Patience is a Virtue
by MoonstoneAndStarDust
Summary: Follow Lily, Hugo, and Louis as they attempt to make sense of life and love while also dealing with their families and heading back to Hogwarts for another year, and it promises to be an interesting one. A sequel/companion/spinoff of Show a Little Faith and Leap of Faith.
1. I Won't Back Down

**A/N: Hello, all! This is the companion piece/spinoff of Show a Little Faith and Leap of Faith. it will be from the POVs of Lily, Hugo, and Lily. I suggest reading SALF and at least the first chapter of LOF before diving into this. It will be updated in tandem with LOF, a chapter going up weekly on one story or the other.**

**Hope you enjoy chapter one, and let me know what you think! I actually enjoy writing conflict so I had fun with this, even though it's painful.**

* * *

Lily Potter couldn't remember ever being more frustrated in her entire life. At least, not for such an extended period of time. And not with her cousin, who also happened to be her best friend.

She supposed she could say she had more than one best friend. Her cousin Lucy was her best friend, but since they were sorted into different houses when they reached Hogwarts, they hadn't stayed as close. Then there was Charlotte Bray, whom she'd gotten to know through Lucy. And while Lily would call her one of her best friends, she was in Hufflepuff with Lucy. It created a natural distance. It was obvious that Charlotte and Lucy were each other's best friends, but Lily had never really felt like she was an outsider with them. They were both the type of people to be welcoming and accepting of everybody, and Lily knew she could always count on them. So it hadn't been out of necessity that she'd grown so close to Hugo. It had been natural and unavoidable.

Her family spent almost as much time at her Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione's house as they did at her own growing up, and if she and her brothers weren't over there, her cousins were visiting them. The close proximity paired with an innate ability to get along was all it took for her and Hugo. They were joined at the hip from before she could even remember.

Then he'd gone and ruined that. If she were honest with herself, she'd be able to admit that they both had, but Lily's head wasn't in that place. It was too busy being angry with her cousin for being an arse for reasons she was still denying were valid.

At least she had Caleb. Her heart sped up at just the thought of her boyfriend. They'd waited so long to be together, and she thought everything had been going perfectly. But with the way Hugo and Louis had acted towards the end of the school year, perfect seemed to be out the window. At least Louis had somewhat come around, even if he was still keeping a bit of distance and wasn't quite his normal self. And as much as Lily wanted her best friend back, talking to Hugo was very low on her list of priorities. At least until he saw sense and stopped being an arse. As far as she was concerned, she was owed one hell of an apology.

He'd said horrible things to her, all because he didn't like the fact that she was dating someone and he wasn't. He felt left out, but that wasn't on her. He made his own choices. Of course, those choices had eventually included snogging Anastasia Bennett - a girl in Lily's house and year that she couldn't stand above anyone else - so they weren't relied on to be wise. Still, if he had a problem with her dating Caleb Wood, he could have said something when she'd first told him, not sit around growing more and more displeased with the situation until he unnecessarily exploded. He was behaving like a child, and as someone who didn't want to stoop to such antics, Lily was determined to keep her cousin out of her life.

At least for the time being. Until he grew up and apologized.

After spending an afternoon with Molly and Lucy, Lily was grateful to leave their house. She loved her cousins, but she could feel the things that were going unsaid. The mood was strained, no matter how hard they tried to make it casual. It wasn't that she felt judged by them, but it was obvious they were doing everything they could to refrain from broaching the subject of the rather horrifying way the school year had ended.

As she prepared to Floo over to her boyfriend's house, Lily hoped the reason he wanted to talk didn't have anything to do with Hugo. Especially after spending the afternoon dodging the subject. He'd tried over the past few weeks to get her to try and talk to her cousin, but Lily had continued to refuse to do so as she became an expert at changing the subject.

She hadn't seen Caleb in the week they'd been back from school. His family had gone on holiday together, since Eva had some time off from training with the end of the season. It had been a week too long, in her opinion. No matter what else was going on with their friends and her family, Lily's feelings had only grown for her boyfriend. In fact, if part of their conversation today happened to involve him confessing some particularly strong feelings for her, she'd feel inclined to do the same. So it was with giddy excitement that she appeared in the fireplace in his family home.

"Caleb?" she called as she stepped out of the grate and into the empty living room. She heard the sound of someone hurrying down the stairs, and a smile came to her face as she turned to see Caleb enter the room a moment later.

"Hey," she said with a grin, moving forward to greet him. "I missed you."

Before she could pull him close and kiss him like she'd been dreaming of doing for days, he crossed his arms over his chest and directed his gaze to the floor. Lily froze a few feet away from him, her gut clenching with anxiety as she noticed the expression on his face that appeared both pained and full of regret.

"Caleb, what's going on?" she asked, slowly closing the distance between them and trying to get him to meet her eyes. "Did something happen?"

"A lot's happened, hasn't it?" he said, his tone unreadable as he continued to look everywhere but directly at her.

"Caleb, you're scaring me," said Lily, who considered it a victory that he didn't shrug her off when she reached out and placed a hand on his arm. "What's wrong?"

"Everything's wrong, Lily," he said emphatically, finally meeting her gaze. She was surprised to see the pain in his deep blue eyes. "My best friend is barely speaking to me, and you won't even mention Hugo's name."

Lily tensed at his words. She drew her hand away from him and crossed her arms, mirroring his stance. "I told you, I don't want to talk about this."

"That's part of the problem, isn't it?" he insisted. "We screwed up, Lily. And we have to face that. Even though we had the best intentions, we made a bloody mess. And if you're not going to try and fix things, I suppose Al was right. It's up to me to do that."

"Al?" she asked in surprise. "What did my brother say to you?"

"Nothing that I didn't already know. The longer we do this, the more of a mess it's going to turn into. So, before any more damage is done, the right thing to do is to walk away."

"Walk away?" Lily asked, fear filling her at his words. "Walk away from what, exactly?"

It was written all over his face that he didn't want to do what it was becoming obvious he was doing. He opened his mouth to respond, but a door closing in the direction of the kitchen caused him to pause. Before Lily really knew what was happening, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the study that was off the family room, closing the door behind them.

"You don't seriously think that we're the problem, right?" Lily said as soon as he'd closed the door. Caleb let out a sigh, his hand running through his wavy brown hair as she continued. "Because they're the ones who are being immature about this."

"So are you!" he said, his voice raised slightly as he grew frustrated. "Lily, Bobby was right. We've been so bloody focused on ourselves that we left our closest friends hung out to dry, not to mention the fact that we lied to them for months. They have every right to be upset with us."

Lily didn't have any clue what to say. She couldn't believe that he was actually taking Hugo's side.

"Look, maybe we rushed into this-"

"Rushed into this?" Lily said in flustered anger. "We danced around this for months. _Years, _even. How's that rushing into this?"

"Maybe not that way," Caleb allowed. "But based on how we act, anyone who saw us would think we're in a serious relationship."

Lily couldn't help feeling a bit stung by his words. "Are we not?"

"No. Yes. I don't know," he said with a frustrated sigh. He walked further into the room, rubbing his hand over his face in aggravation as he left her standing helplessly by the door. "I'm not saying we're just having a laugh, but we barely had our own lives by the end of term. That's a bit much, don't you think?"

"Caleb, we had different classes and schedules," she pointed out. "We weren't always together."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes, his back to her as he stared out the window that faced their backyard. There were a few goal posts set up, and Lily could imagine a young Caleb practicing his Quidditch skills while his dad watched from the room they were in. That is if Oliver wasn't out there with him already.

"I just think we need to focus on ourselves for a bit," he eventually said. "And I don't mean together."

Lily's breath caught in her throat. "What _do _you mean, then?"

There was a beat where Lily let herself believe he wasn't about to say what she knew he was going to, but then his shoulders rose and fell in a heavy sigh before he turned and looked at her with a guarded yet somber expression. "I mean I think it's best that we break up."

Lily blinked rapidly, her eyes stinging with the desire to burst into tears. "You don't mean that."

"Yeah," he said quietly, "I do."

"You're ending this?" she said, unable to help making sure this was really happening. That he was really breaking her heart.

"I don't see any other way to fix this," he said in defeat. "And I don't want to give you any type of false hope, but if things work themselves out, who knows. Maybe this is just what needs to happen. At least for now."

Lily wanted to slap him, if only to get him to show some type of emotion. Anything other than this frustrating complacency and sorrowful acceptance he seemed to have embraced.

"You don't have to do this," she snapped at him. "You don't have to let what other people think dictate what we do."

"It's not about what they think," said Caleb, his tone pleading with her to understand. "It's about the fact that this doesn't feel right anymore. Not with the way things have turned out."

Lily struggled to keep back a sob. How could he really be saying that they weren't supposed to be together? That went entirely against everything she thought to be true. But he seemed determined, and she couldn't see a way to talk him out of it.

"Fine," she said, her tone clipped. If he wasn't going to break down in front of her, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose it over him. "I guess I'll see you…"

She'd been about to say at school, but then it hit her how often she was probably going to have to see him over the summer. There was going to be the annual summer Quidditch match at her house in a few weeks, not to mention the other various get togethers they would be having. It was possible that he wouldn't be around as often as he'd been previous summers, especially if he wasn't able to right things with Louis. But his family was always invited to things anyway.

It took everything in her not to completely lose it as his eyes searched hers, the care he still had for her despite his decision still obvious.

"You're set on this, aren't you?" she couldn't help asking with a shaky voice. "Even if it's the complete opposite of what I want?"

"I'm sorry, Lily," he said, the crack in his voice the first sign that he was actually struggling to get through this. "I wish it were different."

Lily let out a humorless snort. "Yeah, well, I wish you knew that it could be."

Unable to stand it any longer, Lily turned and pulled the door open before storming out, refraining from glancing back at Caleb. She heard someone say her name, and she thought it was his mother, but she was already grabbing Floo powder off the mantle and throwing it in the fire. A moment later and she was standing in her family's sitting room, surrounded by people, and one in particular that she most certainly did not want to see.

She was going to kill Al.

* * *

Correction; she was going to kill Hugo.

After she'd completely fallen apart and her brother had surprisingly managed to calm her down, Lily gained a bit of perspective. She knew Al hadn't told Caleb to break up with her and was only trying to help. It wasn't his fault that his brotherly instincts to protect her had wound up hurting her.

Hugo, on the other hand. He'd gone out of his way to hurt her and cause her pain. Not only had he yelled at her and called her a bitch to her face in front of the majority of the school, but then he'd gone and taken up with her least favorite person at Hogwarts. And he'd played the victim. Made her feel like she'd been the one to turn her back on him, and caused all of the fallout that led to her many broken relationships.

She'd spent the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep for more than a measly two hours. Her exhaustion combined with her heartache and the inability to fully accept everything that had happened had caused her mind to wander into all sorts of places that weren't healthy. Yes, she was furious with Hugo. Caleb wouldn't have broken up with her if he wasn't so emotionally immature. But if making things right with Hugo meant Caleb would take her back, she was determined to make that happen.

Unable to wait any longer, Lily rolled out of bed just after six o'clock the following morning. She hadn't bothered to change the night before, and she didn't even pause to change her clothes or freshen up before running out of her room and down the stairs to the fireplace. She'd just grabbed a handful of Floo powder when she jumped in surprise at the sound of her name.

Her dad was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his hair slightly more disheveled than normal and his bathrobe worn over his pyjamas. He was watching her in curiosity and concern.

"You all right?" he asked. Lily actually managed a slight smile, the warmth and obvious care in his voice comforting her in a way that only a father could. Unable to use her voice for fear that she would begin crying from the overwhelming amount of emotions running through her, she simply gave him a nod. He didn't seem entirely convinced, but she was thankful when he didn't press her on it, merely asking where she was going.

"Ron and Hermione's," she was able to say with an attempt at nonchalance. His brow rose in surprise.

"All right. So long as you're not planning on killing your cousin."

Lily actually chuckled as she threw the powder into the fire and the flames turned green. "I'll try not to, but I can't make any promises."

She appeared in her aunt and uncle's sitting room a moment later, the only sound in the house the ticking of the clock above the mantle. Not wanting to wake anyone unnecessarily, she slowly crept up the stairs to the second floor, noting the sound of running water down the hall and thankful that she didn't have to pass any other occupied rooms to get to Hugo's.

He'd started locking his door around the age of thirteen, much to his mother's annoyance, but Lily had been shown by Fred years ago how to pick a lock the Muggle way, and had stashed a hairpin on the top of Hugo's door frame for moments like this. She had his door open in seconds.

It was obvious immediately that he hadn't unpacked yet. His trunk sat open at the end of his bed, clothes spewing out of it. There was a stack of textbooks and parchment on the floor next to it, as if he'd tossed them aside to get to other things further down in the trunk. Other than that, there were a few things scattered around the room, but it was still reasonably put together. He'd never been the worst of the cousins when it came to room cleanliness. That title, surprisingly, belonged to Lucy.

A cage for his owl sat on his desk, and a tank that housed some type of lizard sat on his dresser. There were various Quidditch and band posters covering the walls, as well as a few that depicted and listed species and subspecies of animals. A few photos of family and friends were stuck up here and there too. His bed was in the far corner of the room, a frightfully orange Chudley Cannons poster hanging above the head.

Lily's entrance hadn't disturbed Hugo. He was still sleeping peacefully, lying on his stomach with his blankets only covering his legs. Lily's heart threatened to soften slightly when she noticed that Crookshanks was curled up on the bed beside him, nestled close against his bare side. He really loved that old cat.

As endearing as the sight was, Lily wasn't to be distracted from her mission. She shut the door before marching over to her cousin, reaching out to jostle him awake none too gently by gripping his shoulder and shaking him.

"Wake up, Hugo," she said in a harsh whisper. It was moments like these that she wished she could use magic. Then she'd be able to put up a silencing charm and create a ruckus without fear of waking the rest of the house. Hugo merely groaned and burrowed further into his pillow while Crookshanks squinted his eyes open and glared up at her.

"Get your arse up, you prat," she said a bit more loudly, combining her request with a rather hard smack on his bare back. Hugo flinched in surprise and maybe even a bit of pain, his head flying off the pillow to look up with a scrunched and sleep ridden face to see who was disturbing his peace so rudely.

"What the hell?" he asked in a groggy voice, pulling a hand out from under his pillow to rub at his face. He propped himself up on his elbows and dropped his hand to squint up at her. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw his cousin, his gaze flickering to the clock next to his bed. "It's not even seven o'clock, Lily," he groaned.

"I don't give a-"

"Oh, for fucks sake, Lily," he groaned, cutting off her impending tirade and flopping back down on his pillow. "If you just wanted to yell at me, couldn't it have waited till a more decent hour?"

Lily growled in frustration before reaching out and pulling his blankets off him, revealing a pair of boxers covered in dragons. He groaned in annoyance before rolling over and aiming a kick at her, but she was smart enough to have taken a step back a moment before. Crookshanks gave a mewl of annoyance at the ruckus before hopping off the bed and going to sit by the door.

"What do you want?" Hugo asked through a yawn, propping himself up on his elbows and looking up at her with a bored expression.

"Right," she said with a huff, folding her arms and glaring at him. "We're sorting this out. Whatever problems we have with each other, it's time we fixed them."

Hugo raised an unimpressed eyebrow at his cousin. "Just like that?"

Lily shrugged. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Maybe you could apologize for acting like a stuck-up, selfish little shit?" he suggested. It took everything in Lily not to slap him.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked in disbelief. "I'm supposed to be your best friend, yet you've said the cruelest things to me the past month. Crueler than anything I've ever heard you say to or about anyone else. Did I really do something so terribly wrong in your eyes that I deserve to be treated like that?"

Lily knew her eyes were welling with tears, her voice shaky with emotion. Hugo looked a little uncomfortable, his gaze roaming around the room and then over her attire in an effort to avoid looking her in the eye.

"Well," he said slowly, "you certainly _look _like shit right now."

The smirk that appeared on his face at these words wasn't menacing. It was the teasing kind that she was so used to seeing on his face. Lily suddenly realized how much she missed him, but she wasn't about to let that get in the way of being thoroughly upset with him.

"Yeah, well," she said, pausing to sniff and wipe away the lone tear that had managed to escape. "You'd look like this too if you'd been up all night after crying your eyes out."

A flicker of concern crossed his face, but his question came out disinterested. "Why would you do something like that?"

Lily gave an unamused snort. "It would appear that being dumped doesn't exactly agree with me."

A strange sense of relief filled her when his jaw dropped and his eyes widened in surprise. "Caleb broke up with you?"

She gave a jerky nod in response, her eyes welling with tears once again. Hugo gave a heavy sigh before pushing himself off the bed. Lily thought for a moment that he was going to hug her, but he headed towards his door instead. Anger flared in her for a moment, thinking he was going to walk away, but he merely opened the door to let out Crookshanks, who'd been pawing at it impatiently.

"I'm sorry," he said, surprising Lily with the sincerity in his voice. She stared at him while he leaned back against the closed door, continuing to avoid looking directly at her.

"No you're not," she said, crossing her arms and glaring at him. "Don't deny that this is what you wanted."

"It wasn't," he argued. Lily let out a scoff of disbelief.

"You did one hell of a job of making it seem otherwise."

They stood there in tense silence for a few moments before Lily let out a frustrated sigh and moved to sit on his bed. "What was so horrible about me having a boyfriend?" she asked, cringing at how pathetic she sounded.

"It wasn't you having a boyfriend," he said. "It was how you handled the whole thing. And I don't see any point in explaining it all again, seeing as you didn't listen the first time."

Lily huffed in annoyance. "Maybe that's because you were acting like a prat."

"Maybe I was," he allowed with a shrug, "but that doesn't make your actions automatically okay."

"And which actions were those?" she asked sarcastically. "The time I developed feelings for someone? The time I acted on them? Or the time I was actually honest with you and told you the truth? Because I don't see you handling your feelings and emotions that well."

"Will you stop doing that?" he asked in frustration. "You always turn things around to make it look like you've done nothing wrong. I know I've messed up and I didn't handle things well, and I'm willing to own that now. Are you?"

"There's nothing wrong with spending time with the person you're dating!" she insisted. "You can't make me feel guilty about that. I was happy, Hugo! And this is exactly why I waited so long to tell anyone. I knew one of you was going to do something to ruin everything."

"I didn't ruin things!" Hugo yelled back. "You ruined things yourself! You got so caught up in your boyfriend and your relationship that you completely forgot that there are other people who care about you. People who thought you cared about them too!"

"I _do _care about you!" she said indignantly. "I was nervous as hell to tell you I was dating Caleb because I was worried about how you'd react. You said you were fine with it!"

"And I was!" said Hugo in exasperation. "But as soon as you knew I was okay with it, I didn't matter anymore! The only thing that did was Caleb. During Easter, he was all you could pay attention to, and then it just got worse after that. You were always running off to spend time with him, completely disregarding any plans we might have had on multiple occasions, and never thinking to try and make an effort to be any type of friend to me anymore. It hurt, Lily! It hurt so fucking much that all I was to you all those years was a placeholder until you found something better. That's not how you treat your friends. And it's sure as hell not how you treat your family."

He was breathing heavily, his face a blotchy red as he stared at her. The hurt he'd just described was evident on his face, the blue eyes he'd inherited from his father slightly glassy with the strength of his emotions. And for the first time, Lily considered whether or not what he was saying was actually true.

When she failed to speak up, Hugo let out a sigh, his hand rubbing his face before going through his sleep disheveled hair. "I know I acted like a prat. I should have told you sooner that I was bothered by everything, but I didn't know how to. You didn't exactly give me many opportunities to say anything either, seeing as I can't even remember the last time it was just the two of us. So I let it all just build up until I couldn't take it anymore, and I should have known better than to lash out at you. You've never exactly respond well to that."

Lily was softening slightly, and she found herself almost smiling at his last comment. He said he was ready to own up to things, but she hadn't really thought he'd do it.

"So, I'm sorry," he continued, his tone still a bit cold, but honest and genuine. "I shouldn't have said what I did that night after the Quidditch match, and my behavior following wasn't okay either. Most of what I did was out of spite, and I could tell I was upsetting you, but to me, that only seemed fair at the time. But I know that's not how you should treat people. Especially the people you love. So, I'm sorry."

Lily nodded, her eyes leaving his to look at the floor instead. When she finally found her voice, it came out choked. "I suppose I can try to forgive you. Even though I'm still angry with you for screwing everything up."

There was a beat of tense silence, and then-

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Hugo shouted in indignant anger. "After everything I just said, not only will you not own up to your own mistakes, but you can't just accept the rather thorough and sincere apology that I just made? What the hell, Lily?! You said you wanted to sort this out and that you wanted to fix our problems. We can't do that if you insist on staying in denial!"

"Fine!" she yelled, standing and clenching her fists at her side. "I'm sorry I went after something I wanted. I'm sorry I managed to find someone who wanted to be with me. I'm sorry that I fell in love. And I'm sorry that all of that is now over because you never managed to grow up!"

She was breathing heavily, both of them glaring at each other. For a moment, she thought he'd softened at her admission of love, but his face hardened a moment later. Probably in response to her final insult.

"Now," she continued, trying to force calm into her voice, "this is getting sorted whether you like it or not, so stop being so-"

"Why?" Hugo cut her off, his arms crossed as he looked at her calculatingly. "Why is it so important all of the sudden that we fix things? You seemed to not care enough to try before, and seeing as you're still not seeing sense…"

He trailed off as the truth hit him, his eyes narrowing and his jaw clenching. A moment later, he turned and pulled open his door, standing to the side so Lily could see out into the hall.

"Get out," he snapped.

"What?" Lily asked in surprise.

"Out!" he yelled, now pointing out the door. "I'm not going to pretend everything's all right between us just so you can try and get back together with your boyfriend."

Lily felt her face turning red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "That's not-"

"You're a shit liar, Lily," Hugo snarled at her. "Even before you told me the two of you were together, I knew something was going on. You think I haven't known that you've liked him for years? I'm your best friend. Of course I noticed. And of course I know how much he means to you. But as much as I want you to be happy, I'd sooner have you hate me than let you walk all over me. So you can take your pathetic excuse for an apology and your lies and get out."

For the first time, Lily was afraid. She'd considered it a given that they'd eventually make up and get past everything, but the resigned tone with which he'd just told her to get out had her truly worried that he meant it in more ways than one. And that she was very much in danger of losing his friendship in an irreparable way. Yet she still couldn't bring herself to see things the way he did.

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Lily stormed away from someone she loved, although this time it felt much worse. Like there was a piece of her that would never be whole again.


	2. Hurts So Good

Hugo was trying his best to keep a cool head, but he'd inherited a temper that - on the occasions that it was provoked - was very difficult to regain control of.

He'd spent the last hour lying on his bed, trying not to lose his cool and maybe get a bit more sleep, before giving up and storming around his room, picking up random things and tossing them at the wall, only managing to calm down after shattering a picture frame that contained a photo of him and Lily and Lucy on their first day of Hogwarts.

Spilling everything and actually apologizing to her had not been Hugo's plan when he'd woken up to Lily's presence in his room. Waiting her out until she finally admitted how she'd screwed up had been his plan, but part of him knew that he'd ended up owing her an apology almost as much as she owed him one. Apologizing wound up being easier to do than he'd expected, but then she'd gone and ruined it by being her stubborn self. A trait that he normally admired her for.

After taking a few calming breaths and throwing on a shirt and sweatpants, he made his way out of his room and downstairs, knowing that a good breakfast was the only thing that was going to possibly make him feel any better at the moment. If only he'd remembered that his family had plans for breakfast that morning.

All conversation stopped when he entered the kitchen, his parents, Rose, and Scorpius staring at him from the table in the far corner of the room. They normally ate lunch and dinner in the dining room, but his mother insisted that breakfast was always to be served in the kitchen, a tradition that he was very much not a fan of at the present moment, as it didn't allow him to slip by unnoticed. There was no way they hadn't heard the shouting match that he'd had with Lily an hour ago.

"Sorry," he grumbled, moving towards the fridge and pulling out the jug of orange juice. "Forgot you were coming."

His last few words were directed at Scorpius, who gave an understanding nod and continued to eat his breakfast, as did Hugo's father. Rose and his mother, however, were both watching him anxiously.

"Your mum made scones," his dad said through a mouthful of eggs, acting oblivious to the tension in the room even though Hugo knew he was well aware.

"Brilliant," said Hugo after pouring himself a glass of juice. He pulled out one of the empty chairs and sat next to his mother and across from his sister. Most of his plate was filled up by the time he noticed he still had the undivided attention of the two witches at the table.

"I'm not talking about it," he said, his tone trying to convey that he had no intention of arguing the point. He continued to pile food on his plate, knowing there was a silent conversation going on across the table.

"Hugo-"

"Just drop it, all right?" he snapped, cringing after realizing too late that it was his mother who'd spoken up. He'd been expecting it to be Rose. An even more awkward silence filled the room, only broken by his father harshly clearing his throat. Hugo's eyes flew to the end of the table and met his dad's, whose expression clearly said he better not talk to his mother like that, and that an apology wouldn't go amiss either.

"Sorry, Mum," Hugo mumbled, shoving a piece of bacon into his mouth a moment later. He glanced at his mother, who gave him an understanding smile and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked in a soft voice. Hugo immediately felt some of the tension he wasn't even aware he was carrying leave him.

"Not really," he said honestly, meeting her warm brown eyes. She let out a sympathetic sigh, her hand moving from his shoulder to the back of his neck and stroking his hair, the way she'd always done to comfort him.

"Is there anything I can do?" Hermione asked. Hugo shrugged.

"I doubt it. She's stubborn as hell."

"So are you."

Hugo shot a look at his dad, who smirked at him, and he felt himself smiling slightly. "I know, but it might surprise you to know that I actually apologized this morning for being a prat."

His father gave him an impressed look. "And she's still mad at you? What exactly did you do?"

"I'd rather not rehash the whole thing," he said with a sigh, "so let's just say that neither of us handled her new relationship well."

Scorpius snorted into his orange juice, causing him to choke and Rose to pat him a little roughly on the back. Hugo scowled at him.

"Why do I have a feeling that's not the whole story?" said Hermione, drawing her hand away from Hugo to fold her arms across her chest and stare at her son suspiciously.

"If you don't tell her, I will."

Hugo's eyes widened as he stared at his sister in shock.

"What?" she said defensively. "You were all lucky your parents weren't written to."

"All?" their mother asked. Hugo let out a sigh before leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. He begrudgingly told them just about everything, from how Lily and Caleb were behaving to what happened the day of the match and then - at Rose's pointed look - the way he'd acted in the weeks following. Including his little dalliance with Anastasia Bennett.

"You did _what?!" _his mother asked in shock and disapproval after he said he went so far as to make a move on Lily's archrival.

"She was going on about how I was acting like a prat because I was just jealous that she had relationship experience and I didn't," he explained. "I only snogged her a couple of times."

"Do you mean to tell me," Hermione began, growing more disapproving by the second, "that you snogged some girl after your cousin called you out for being immature about her relationship?"

Hugo gulped nervously before nodding, expecting to get a telling off. But, much to his surprise, her disapproval started to fall away, and it looked like she was doing everything she could not to burst out in laughter. He watched as she turned to look at his father, finally letting a chuckle escape her at the thoroughly embarrassed look on her husband's face.

"You can't say he doesn't take after you," Hermione said through her chuckles. Ron gave her a pointed look, though he still seemed slightly embarrassed.

"I thought we agreed to never talk about this," he said to his wife through gritted teeth.

"About what?" asked Hugo perking up a bit now that he didn't seem to be in trouble anymore. Rose sniggered, obviously in on whatever subjects their father was trying to avoid. "How come Rose knows and I don't?"

"It came up last summer," Hermione said with a shrug. "Let's just say that your father might have done something very similar back when he was in school after having a fight with his sister. One that sounds like it was a lot like the one you had with Lily."

"Hermione-"

"What, Ron?" she asked with an amused roll of her eyes. "Maybe if he'd known the story beforehand, he wouldn't have made the same mistake you did."

Ron rolled his eyes as well. "Yeah, well, he doesn't appear to be in quite as deep shit as I was. You're not actually going out with her, yeah?" he asked his son. Hugo shook his head. "See?" Ron continued, looking at his wife with a slightly smug expression. "It's not the same as me and Lavender."

Hugo had been in the middle of taking a bite of his scone, but immediately started choking at his father's words. This time, it was his mother thumping him on the back.

"What?" he eventually choked out. "Lavender? As in Lavender Finnigan? Mum to one of my best friends?"

Another awkward silence fell, and Ron gave his son a guilty look. Hugo groaned in disgust, grabbing another scone and his glass of juice before standing. "I'll be spending the rest of my day trying not to think about..._that_."

He left the kitchen, ignoring the sound of his mother and sister laughing and heading out to the front porch. He sat on the swing and began swaying back and forth, taking in the slightly dewy morning as he finished off his scone.

While he knew telling his parents everything was probably a good decision, he felt apprehensive. There was no telling what they might do now or how they might try to meddle. His mother in particular. At this point, though, he didn't see how things could get much worse.

Hugo was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of the front door opening, followed by his father's presence on the porch.

"I _really _don't want to talk about your dating history," Hugo groaned, amused and relieved to see his dad begin to turn red as he shook his head.

"No worries. I don't either."

"Did Mum send you out here, then?" Hugo asked before chugging the rest of his juice. Ron shook his head and chuckled as he walked to stand in front of his son, resting back against the porch railing and crossing his arms.

"More like I prevented her from coming out here herself," he said. "Didn't think that was the best choice under the current circumstances."

Hugo sighed, setting his empty glass on the windowsill behind him before crossing his arms and kicking against the porch, causing the swing to sway a bit more forcefully.

"I can't exactly say I know what you're going through," his dad continued, "but I've had more than one falling out with my siblings and your mum and even your uncle over the years. I might not have admitted it at the time, but it hurts."

Hugo looked at him skeptically. "Is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"No," he answered honestly. "I just want you to know that it's okay to be upset. It's okay to feel hurt. I learned the hard way that ignoring your feelings only causes problems in the long run."

"You saying you want me to cry my eyes out and moan about how betrayed and gutted I am?" Hugo asked sarcastically.

"Again, no," said Ron with a long suffering sigh. "But based on how things have gone so far, you haven't exactly handled them well."

Hugo's father was looking at him sternly, a sight that had become rarer over the years and only happened occasionally when he was younger. It was moments like these that he remembered his dad had once been a rather formidable Auror, and he understood why his uncle still made comments about how useful it would be for Ron to help out with particularly difficult suspects. He was very intimidating.

"Look, I know I screwed up," said Hugo, "but Lily didn't handle things well either."

"So that gives you an excuse to behave any way you want?"

Hugo shrunk a little under his father's harsh gaze. "No, but it _does _mean that it's not all my fault."

"I know that," said Ron, "but you _are _responsible for the part you played in making things worse than they needed to be."

Hugo sighed and leaned his head back, his eyes closed as he swung back and forth. He heard his father moving and felt him stop the swing. Hugo opened his eyes as Ron sat next to him.

"I tried talking to her," said Hugo. "I don't fancy trying again anytime soon."

"And I won't force you to," said Ron, "but you and Lily aren't the only ones affected by this mess."

Hugo's brow rose in surprise as his father looked at him pointedly. His surprise quickly turned to guilt as he thought of Caleb.

"You're friends with Wood, right?" his dad asked. Hugo nodded. "How do you think he's doing?"

Hugo heaved a heavy sigh and slouched further down into the swing. "Not well, probably. I know he really fancied her, so I'm not even sure why he ditched her, but Lily seemed to think that fixing things with me would help her fix things with him, so I'm guessing he did it because, unlike Lily, he actually sees the role they've played in this mess and is trying to fix it. Not that it did much good."

His dad nodded his head thoughtfully. "You think he felt bad about coming between you and Lily?"

"Maybe," Hugo said with a shrug. "Or maybe he just didn't want to deal with the drama."

"Either way, he's still hurting, and it would probably help if he knew he hasn't lost you as a friend."

Hugo let out an annoyed huff. "You're annoyingly insightful."

Ron grinned at him. "Failure is a great teacher."

His words struck Hugo, who looked up at him questioningly, and he noted the regret behind his smile. His dad had made comments like this before - like he'd made choices he still wished he hadn't - and while Hugo knew the source of some of that, his dad had never fully explained. And now didn't seem like the best time to dive into that.

"At this point, how much more harm could I do?" Hugo said in resignation. Ron clapped him rather forcefully on the shoulder.

"That's the spirit."

And so, a few hours later, Hugo found himself flooing into the Woods' sitting room, greeted by a welcoming Katie who informed him her son was out back. Hugo thanked her before making his way towards the back door, stopping when he reached it to look out the window. Caleb had charmed about a dozen Quaffles to take turns flying at him as he hovered in front of the goal posts.

Maybe he shouldn't be doing this, Hugo thought. Maybe it would only make things worse for him to talk to Caleb. It was highly likely his presence wouldn't go over well.

Before he could decide one way or the other, Caleb caught sight of him through the back door, though it was obvious he couldn't tell who he was. With a bracing deep breath, Hugo pushed open the door as Caleb waved his wand and the Quaffles fell to the ground. The Keeper's curious expression turned to one of surprise when he caught sight of Hugo. He was sinking towards the ground a moment later, expertly dismounting his broom and walking to meet Hugo halfway. It was then that Hugo noticed the concerned expression he wore.

"Everything okay?" Caleb asked as they grew closer. "Is…"

He cut himself off, biting his lip in frustration as Hugo reached him and they stopped.

"Well," Hugo began uncertainly, "depends on what you mean by everything. Far as I know, everyone's healthy and all that."

Caleb sighed and leaned on his broom, rubbing his eyes in obvious frustration. "Why are you here, then?"

Hugo shrugged. "Still not quite sure. I was somehow convinced that you could use a friend right now.

Caleb looked at him questioningly before it seemed to hit him. "You talked to Lily?"

"It was my dad that convinced me, actually," said Hugo. "But, yeah, she came and saw me this morning."

Caleb nodded. "How…"

Hugo arched a brow at him. "How is she?" he finished the question. "She's the same stubborn prat she's been the past few months."

Despite the circumstances, a grin threatened to flicker across Caleb's face, but it was gone in an instant. "I'm guessing she told you what happened?"

Hugo gave a nod, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the situation already and now even more so.

"Look, don't worry about it," Caleb said in resignation. "We'll be fine. You don't have to try and help fix things."

Hugo clenched his jaw and crossed his arms. "You know, that right there is one of the problems," he said a bit harshly, causing Caleb to meet his gaze. "Both of you thinking all of this is entirely about you."

Rather than fight back, Caleb sighed once again, letting his broom drop to the ground as he pulled off his Keeper gloves. "I know," he said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I really am. I've just been going mad since last night. I don't think I slept at all."

Hugo didn't say anything, merely continuing to watch his cousin's ex-boyfriend and noting how exhausted he truly looked.

"This whole thing just turned into such a fucking mess," said Caleb. "I'm sorry you got dragged into it."

"I didn't, though," Hugo pointed out. "I had no fucking control over whether or not it affected me and neither did you. It was bound to. And it was pretty bloody obvious neither of you realized that you actually play a role in the lives of people other than each other."

"I know, damn it!" Caleb snapped. "I know we fucked up and I know we hurt people! Can't you see I'm trying to fix that?"

Hugo softened at the distress that was pouring off of Caleb. "Yeah, I can."

The fight seemed to go out of Caleb, and he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "I just felt like there was no other option," he said helplessly.

"At this point, you didn't exactly have many good ones," said Hugo. "Especially with her continuing to be this blind to everything."

Caleb gave a noncommittal shrug before stooping to pick up his broom and leading the way back to the house.

"I know you did what you thought you had to," Hugo continued. "And I know it wasn't easy and definitely not the selfish option."

"Maybe," said Caleb as he pulled open the back door, "but there's also a part of me that did it because I couldn't stand to be the reason everyone else was so miserable."

"Sounds like a good kind of selfish to me," said Hugo with an attempt at a reassuring voice. Caleb gave him an appreciative look as he propped his broom against the wall by the back door, which Hugo shut behind him. They made their way into the kitchen and Caleb grabbed them each a glass of water.

"Did it work, then?" asked Caleb after greedily drinking his full glass of water. "You two manage to fix things?"

Hugo snorted into his glass. "Did you miss the part where I said she was as blind as ever? She still doesn't see how any of this is her fault. She claimed she wanted to fix things at first, but it turned out that was just because she thought it would help her fix things with you. Didn't really care about sorting out any of our shit. She just wanted to shove it aside and act like nothing was wrong."

Caleb shook his head as he leaned against the kitchen counter, but Hugo could just make out the affection mixed with pain at the thought of Lily.

"Look," said Hugo, sitting at the kitchen table and setting down his glass. "I'm not in the mood to do Lily any favors, but I really didn't mean for you two to split up. At this point, I don't see her coming around either way, so don't stay away from her on my account."

Surprisingly, Caleb smirked at him. "Now who thinks it's all about them?"

Hugo rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You know I'm at least partly right."

"You are," Caleb allowed, "but there was more to my decision than just you, mate."

They fell silent, Hugo unsure of what else there was to say. He supposed he could apologize, and he probably should, but he was distracted by another thought.

"Are you worried at all about how this will affect the team?"

Caleb sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "I've been trying not to think about it too much. Don't even know who'll be captain with Miranda gone."

"Probably you, right?"

Caleb shrugged. "Or Lou. That wouldn't be too bad."

"Well, at least Seekers and Keepers never have much to do with each other," Hugo pointed out.

Caleb let out a groan and rubbed his hands over his face. "What a miserable mess," he moaned.

Hugo gave a humorless chuckle. "I've never been more grateful that you're a better Keeper than I am."

Caleb shot him an annoyed look before refilling his glass with water and moving to take the chair across from Hugo.

"You seen much of Lou?" Hugo asked. Caleb shook his head.

"We just got back in town yesterday. Haven't had the chance."

"Wow," said Hugo in surprise. "And you broke up with Lily last night? You didn't waste your time."

Caleb sighed and took another drink of water before launching into his explanation. "I'd been thinking about what to do a lot over the end of term, but it wasn't until I had the distance that I was able to set my emotions aside and decided what was the best thing to do. I hadn't really planned on doing it right away, but as soon as I saw her…"

He trailed off, the memory obviously a little too fresh to talk about.

"Anyway," Caleb continued with a sigh. "Still not sure it was the best call, but I suppose only time will tell."

"Right," said Hugo, nodding and doing his best to be reassuring no matter how uncomfortable this conversation was making him. "Just give it time, and before you know it, you'll both have moved on and you'll be seeing other people and it'll be like it never happened."

As soon as he'd finished, Hugo realized that hadn't been the best thing to say. Caleb quickly switched from looking horrified to downright angry at Hugo. "Look," he said, leaning forward on the table and pointing at Hugo threateningly, "just because you didn't approve of our relationship, doesn't mean it wasn't real. Because it was very fucking real. The way I felt about her and the way I _still _feel about her is extremely fucking real. So don't act like you've known this is what was best all along or that it was some silly drama that's over and done with and we can now move on with our lives. That's not what this is. So don't expect either of us to just be done and move on. It's not that bloody simple, and you'd know that if you took your head out of your own arse and paid attention to other people's feelings every once in a while."

He stood roughly from the table, downing the rest of his water before moving to set the class in the kitchen sink. Hugo sat there stunned, feeling more ashamed than he'd expected to.

"I'm sorry," he finally managed to say, elaborating when Caleb looked at him doubtfully. "I know I've got no right judging you two for how you behaved when I was a right prat myself. I know you care about each other, and I meant it when I said I didn't mean for you to break up. So I'm sorry for the part I played in all that. If I could fix it, I would."

Thankfully, Caleb seemed to accept this apology.

"Thanks," he said with a jerky nod that Hugo returned. They stayed there in slightly awkward silence before Caleb checked his watch.

"Want to go to Lou's?" he asked. "I told him I'd come by today."

Feeling grateful that they both seemed to want to just put things behind them and move on, Hugo nodded.

"Sure. With any luck, Dom will have made some chocolate eclairs."

* * *

**A/N: Next update will be in Leap of Faith! I had fun writing Hugo's pov for the first time. hope you enjoyed reading it!**


	3. The Boys of Summer

Life had officially turned into hell. There were no bright spots, no promises of things getting better, and no one suffering with her. It was as if Lily had finally been given everything she'd wanted just so it could all be taken away.

Thank you, world, for being so cruel.

She supposed she was being a bit melodramatic, but ever since Erin and Rose had returned from their week away, Lily had been on her own. Al - who'd been her only source of companionship and comfort - was now preoccupied with other things, and she hadn't even made an effort to see Charlotte or Lucy. When her mother asked about them, she'd made some excuse about knowing they were busy with their families, but that wasn't the truth.

The truth was that she was embarrassed.

She'd acted all high and mighty and better than Hugo and even Louis when they'd made a scene about her relationship, calling them immature and thinking that there was nothing that could touch her and Caleb.

How wrong she'd been.

She'd even said condescending things to both Charlotte and Lucy about their "lack of experience" or the fact that "Bobby and Corbin weren't real men yet so how could they be expected to commit?"

Even as she saw the error of her ways, Lily wasn't quite ready to own up to them.

Her mum said she got her stubborn nature from her dad. Her dad said she got it from her mum.

It didn't matter either way. Her friendships were a bit of a mess and it didn't make a difference who was responsible for her stubborn nature. The point was that it was going to keep her from fixing things, and as of right now, that was alright with her. She didn't need to embarrass herself further by groveling, and it wasn't like they could understand what she was going through anyway. So what was the point?

With a sour attitude that had become second nature over the past few weeks, Lily made her way downstairs for breakfast. She found her mother in the kitchen, who looked pointedly at the pajamas Lily was wearing.

"It's half past noon, Lily," said Ginny as she put the finishing touches on two sandwiches.

"And?" asked Lily, pulling open the fridge and grabbing the milk and orange juice.

"And it's a lovely day that you've already wasted half of," her mother said as Lily open the cabinet beside the fridge to grab a bowl. "I also thought you might have liked to help your cousin move into her new flat."

Lily rolled her eyes as she placed her bowl next to the milk on the island in the middle of the kitchen that her mother was standing at.

"First off, if they'd wanted my help, they would have asked for it rather than saying I could come if I wanted to. That's just code for 'we really don't need your help but don't want you to feel left out.' And second," Lily continued before her mother could interrupt, "I have all summer to enjoy beautiful days," she said, refusing to meet her mother's judgmental stare as she retrieved a box of cereal from the pantry. "And I'm sixteen now. Isn't that old enough for me to make my own decisions about how I spend my day?"

Ginny remained silent as Lily prepared her cereal and grabbed a glass and a spoon, putting away the milk and juice before picking up her glass and cereal and moving into the living room.

"Unfortunately for you," her mother said as she followed her, "as long as you live in this house, you have certain responsibilities that I _do_ have a say in."

Lily plopped down on the couch, starting a bit when Ginny waved a scrap of paper in her face a moment later. With a sigh, she set her cereal and juice on the coffee table before taking what looked like a list from her mother and looking at it grumpily. Lily's jaw dropped in outrage once she realized what she was holding.

"But some of these are Al's chores!" she exclaimed. "He's supposed to clean out the pool filter and empty the bins!"

"And Al is moving out in two weeks," her mother reminded her. "We did the same thing to him when James left. And those are both weekly chores, so you don't have to worry about doing them every day."

"But I already do other weekly chores!"

"I know," said Ginny, completely unfazed by her daughter's attitude. "They're all still on the list too. I'm sure you can manage it all just fine. You're sixteen now after all. You can handle some more responsibility."

Lily let out an exaggerated sigh as she slumped against the back of the couch. She gave her mother a petulant look, but it was pointless. That type of thing never worked on her mother, who merely smiled and turned to walk back into the kitchen.

"My life is hard enough as it is right now, you know!" Lily hollered after her mother. When there was no response, she sat forward and picked up her breakfast, scrunching her nose up when she realized it had already started to turn soggy. Her mother came out of the kitchen a moment later, both sandwiches she'd been making plated and in her hands. She stopped behind the sofa and jerked her head towards the kitchen.

"Your Hogwarts letter came this morning," said Ginny. "It's in there on the counter."

Lily watched perplexed as her mother gave her what seemed to be a conspiratorial smirk before moving out onto the patio, where she could see her father sitting and looking over various files at the table.

Quickly finishing off her breakfast, Lily made her way back into the kitchen, setting her bowl in the sink and grabbing the familiar looking envelope off the counter that was accompanied by a second one. She assumed that must be her O.W.L. results, but any thought of opening that envelope first completely flew from her mind after she'd picked up the school letter. And as soon as it was in her hand, she realized the meaning behind her mother's look.

It was heavier than any letter she'd ever gotten before, and seeing as she wasn't going into fifth or seventh year, there was really only one option for what could be possibly weighing the envelope down.

Lily took a calming breath before slowly opening the envelope, tipping it over her hand so that a shiny badge fell out, signify that she - Lily Potter - was the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.

It was a thought that had only briefly crossed her mind in rather indulgent and fanciful moments. Had she been going into seventh, it might have crossed her mind as a more legitimate possibility, but she wasn't, and it hadn't.

She roughly pulled the letter out, gripping it tightly and letting the envelope drop to the floor. There was the usual book list, the letter about when to catch the train, and a third one that detailed her duties as the new Quidditch Captain.

Maybe life wasn't quite as hellish as she'd thought.

"Mum!" she yelled, rushing out of the kitchen with the letter clutched tightly in one hand and the pin in the other. "Dad!"

They'd both stood and were already making their way back into the living room, knowing smiles on their faces. She beamed at them, holding up the letter and the pin.

"Congratulations," her dad said with a warm smile. "We're really proud of you."

"Thanks," said Lily, excitement bubbling through her. She felt better than she had in days. "I'm going to go tell James."

She paused only long enough to hug both of her parents before throwing Floo powder into the fireplace and getting swept away to her brother's flat.

* * *

It wasn't the worst thing that could have possibly happened, but at that moment, it felt like it. Everything feels that way when you're sixteen.

Part of Hugo really wanted to be happy for Lily and even tried to be, but after spending the last few weeks in Caleb's company, all he felt was dread. Caleb was having a hard enough time already, but having Lily as his Quidditch Captain was going to make everything that much more excruciating. He'd already expressed his dread in simply having to be on the same team as his ex-girlfriend, and now it no longer mattered that their positions hardly had anything to do with each other. He couldn't just ignore her.

Hugo waited around just long enough to hear James and Albus stop congratulating Lily and begin giving her all kinds of unsolicited advice instead, before he made his exit. He tried to go as unnoticed as possible, only making sure Rose saw him leaving. His sister gave him a sympathetic look that was somewhere between a smile and a grimace before he walked out the front door and down to the flat that James was still sharing with Fred and Lysander for at least another week. After pausing a moment to decide where to go first, he left in a burst of green flames, reappearing a few moments later in the main sitting room at Shell Cottage.

It was empty when he arrived, but his uncle came in from the kitchen seconds later.

"Louis here?" Hugo asked before Bill could say a word. He seemed taken aback for a moment at his nephew's obviously sour attitude, before his expression turned amused.

"He's in his room," said Bill, "if you can't already tell."

Hugo looked at his uncle in confusion for a moment before the pounding bass coming from the floor above registered. Dread filled Hugo.

"What happened?" he asked his uncle with a sigh.

"No clue," said Bill with a shrug. "He's been like this on and off since you lot got back, but it's been bad the past few days. And he's not alone in his misery."

Hugo furrowed his brow in confusion before thanking his uncle and heading up the stairs. Much like the Burrow, Shell Cottage had grown with the family that lived in it. There was a bathroom and three bedrooms on the first landing, and a set of stairs had been added that led up to the third floor. As Hugo went higher, the pounding music grew louder. By the time he reached the loft room on the third floor that served as the perfect hang out area for Hugo's cousins and their friends, the noise was deafening.

Bracing himself, he strode over to the door on the far end of the room, pausing for a moment before pounding on it. He checked to see that the door was locked and had to bang on it once again before he got any type of response.

A despondent, "What?" was hollered through the door.

"It's Hugo! Turn off that fucking racket and let me in!"

He only had to wait a few seconds before the lock clicked and the door began to swing open, the noise coming from inside growing even louder. Bracing himself, Hugo stepped into the room.

Part of him had always been a bit jealous of Louis' room. It had dark wood floors and walls with exposed beams and rafters above. There was a window overlooking the ocean, and the room itself felt cozy while also being a decent size. There were posters for a few different Quidditch teams on the walls, as well as a few pictures of friends and family, but the majority of the walls were covered in band posters, both Muggle and wizard.

There was a bed in the far right corner of the room, close to the window. In the opposite corner were half a dozen bean bag chairs that Louis had collected over time and turned into a makeshift second bed that Hugo himself had slept on a time or two. At the present moment, however, they were occupied by a very forlorn looking and rather unkempt Caleb Wood, who was sprawled out on his stomach, his finger absentmindedly tracing the grooves of the hardwood floor.

Hugo grimaced, both at the state of his friend and the deafening volume of the pounding music as he stopped at the desk by the door and turned down the stereo.

Louis wasn't in much better shape than Caleb. He was stretched out on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a vacant expression. Both boys didn't look as if they'd even gotten out of bed.

With a sigh, Hugo crossed the room and opened the curtains, letting in light that had the other two groaning as he pulled open the window to air out the slightly musty room.

"What the hell, Hugo?" Louis grumbled, his arm covering his eyes as Hugo perched himself on the windowsill.

"I should be asking you that," said Hugo. "What's with you two?"

Caleb let out a groan, rolling from his stomach to his back so his head hung off the cushion he was lounged on and brushed against the floor. "It's summer holidays. Do we need a reason to be layabouts?"

Hugo gave Caleb a pointed look. "I get why you're a bit of a mess, but you know as well as I do that he-" he pointed at Louis "-only does this when something's wrong. Everything seemed fine a few days ago. Did your mopey attitude finally rub off on him?"

"Maybe I just wanted to sleep in," Louis groaned from his bed. Hugo gave a snort of amusement.

"Yeah, because the blaring music definitely helps with that."

Louis lifted his arm off his face so he could glare at his cousin. "Did you need something? Or did you just come here to be a pain in the arse?"

The reason for his visit had been momentarily pushed to the back of Hugo's mind, but he was now forced to remember it. However, he didn't feel like it was quite the right time to bring it up.

"Mate, you're starting to stink," said Hugo. "How long have you been in here?"

Louis shrugged. "Don't know. Don't really care either."

Hugo looked at him with wide eyes. "Seriously? Have you even eaten?"

Louis pointed over to his dresser, where a few empty bags of crisps and tins of biscuits were scattered, along with empty drink bottles. Hugo looked back at his cousin with an arched brow.

"You going to tell me what's up, or not?"

Neither of them said anything.

"Right," said Hugo with a sigh, "well, if you're not going to tell me what's wrong-"

"It's hopeless," Louis cut Hugo off with a groan, his arm going to cover his face again. "What's the point in even trying if you're just going to face heartbreak?"

Hugo looked at his cousin with wide eyes as Caleb gave a grunt of agreement.

"I mean," Louis continued, propping himself up on his elbows so he could look at Hugo, "_you've_ never gotten yourself caught up in a girl, and you're doing fine, so it's not like it's necessary, you know? I can be perfectly happy and content without all that rubbish."

"He did snog Anastasia Bennett," Caleb reminded them from the floor, his hand raised and his finger pointing towards the ceiling as if he were making a rather profound statement.

"But he doesn't fancy her, does he?" Louis said a bit condescendingly. "There's a difference."

"That's what this is about?" Hugo asked skeptically. "You two are pining over girls?"

"I'm not pining," Caleb said as he crossed his arms indignantly, which looked a bit comical as he was practically hanging upside down. Hugo rolled his eyes and looked at Louis, who seemed to have realized he might have given a bit too much away.

"Who's got you all worked up?" Hugo asked his cousin with a smirk. Louis snarled at him and flopped back down on the bed as Caleb let out a chuckle.

"Who else?" said Caleb, rolling over and pushing himself up off the floor. "He's been in love with Jill Boot since first year."

Hugo laughed and Caleb smirked as Louis sat up and chucked his pillow at his friend, who'd stood and was walking towards the dresser.

"I'm not '_in love_' with her," said Louis, emphasizing the words with a mocking tone.

"Right," said Caleb, continuing to smirk as he hunted for any remaining food. "You're just mad about her and have no clue what to do about it."

Louis scowled but remained silent, obviously unable to counter this statement.

"Can't you just ask her out?" Hugo asked, thinking this was a pretty reasonable suggestion. Apparently he was wrong.

"Are you kidding?" Louis asked. "No way I can do that."

"Why the hell not?" Hugo asked with an incredulous chuckle. "It can't be that hard, right?"

"Have you ever done it?" Louis challenged. Hugo squirmed uncomfortably on the window ledge.

"Not exactly."

"Then you've got no bloody clue what you're talking about."

Louis flopped back down onto his bed, resuming his staring at the ceiling as Caleb unearthed a few remaining biscuits.

"All right, then," Hugo conceded. "Maybe I don't have a bloody clue what you're going through. But she could say yes, right? It's not like she's guaranteed to reject you."

"But she already _did_," Louis said with a groan, rolling over and burying his face in his pillows.

"What?" Hugo asked, turning to Caleb in question when Louis continued to groan into his pillow.

"He sort of told her how he feels," said Caleb. "And he's under the impression that the fact that he hasn't heard a single thing from her since school ended means that she doesn't feel the same."

Caleb said all this while trying to keep from grinning. It was obvious that Louis was being a bit dramatic, and if just about any other cousin or friend had been in the room, they would have been quite taken aback by the situation. Yes, he'd gotten worked up over things before, especially in recent weeks, but this was different. Those closest to Louis had been privy to these types of meltdowns in the past, but he wasn't the type to let the whole world in on his internal turmoil. This wasn't a momentary expression of emotion. This was something that was really bothering him, and only his closest friends were allowed to see it.

"Okay," said Hugo. "What exactly did you say to her?"

Louis sat up slowly, sighing heavily as he folded his legs on the bed and held a pillow in his lap. He reminded Hugo of a much younger version of Louis, his hair rumpled from sleep and his expression that of a child who'd been denied something he desperately wanted.

"So, over Easter," he began a bit reluctantly, "we were all in France, remember? Well, there was this tosser there the same week we were, and he got it into his head that he'd taken a fancy to Jill, so not only did he ask her out, but she went on a bloody date with him. He was a right prat about it too," Louis insisted. "I think he knew I fancied her - he always gave me this smug look whenever he got her to laugh or blush or something like that - and it was all just a bloody game to him."

Louis paused, obviously still bothered by the whole thing. He ran his hand through his hair before letting out a sigh and continuing.

"I ended up telling her how much it bothered me, on the last day of term, and I might have given away a bit too much."

Hugo refrained from rolling his eyes. "You mean you didn't outright say how you feel?"

"I strongly implied," Louis said defensively. "And she's not stupid. She's a bloody Ravenclaw. I could tell by the way she looked at me that she knew exactly what I meant. And I thought she might actually feel the same at first," he continued, sounding more resigned with each word, "but I suppose not."

Watching his cousin, it would be easy for Hugo to say he was pouting about something that he very likely didn't have to be, but there was a heaviness to his attitude that Hugo couldn't miss either. He could tell this meant more to Louis than a fleeting fancy and a momentary disappointment, and he really didn't know what to do. Because even though Louis had never had a girlfriend, it didn't mean no one had ever been interested. And thanks to his genetics which included a dash of Veela, he'd never known what it was like for a girl who fancied him not to make a move.

"Lou, I know you're used to girls falling all over you," said Hugo, unable to keep himself from using a slightly teasing tone, "but you do realize that guys have to be the ones to do the pursuing sometimes, right?"

Louis turned red, either from anger or embarrassment or both. "I know that. It still doesn't mean it's easy."

"I'm not saying it is," said Hugo, "but it sounds like you've barely made a move aside from hinting at the fact that you might fancy her. You telling me that's as much as you plan to do until she comes crawling? I thought you hated all the girls chasing after you anyway."

"Most of the time, yes. And that's not _all_ I've done," Louis protested. "I…well…I was a bit affectionate too."

"How?" Caleb asked skeptically, returning to his cushions and flopping down on his back.

"You know...," Louis began uncertainly. "I sort of held her hand once. And I...rubbed her back?"

Hugo snorted as Caleb let out a scoff. It was actually rather amusing to see Louis this flustered about this particular topic. Sure, they'd had conversations about girls in rather vague or hypothetical ways, but he'd never shown the lack of confidence that he was now, when it actually mattered to him and was really happening.

"Mate, I've done both those things with Molly," Caleb said with a roll of his eyes, "and there's never been anything between us besides friendship."

"That's different, though," Louis insisted. "You grew up together. Your dads are best friends and you're like her brother. It's a completely different scenario."

"You might have a point," Hugo conceded. "Still, it doesn't sound like there's much for her to reject at the moment, so I doubt that's what she's doing."

Louis looked unconvinced. "Really?"

"Really," said Caleb. "Besides, remember when she had a crush on James?"

Hugo's eyes widened and snapped to Caleb in alarm. "What the hell? When was this?"

"Third year, maybe?" Caleb said uncertainly. "So he would've been in sixth at the time. Point is, she'd clam up every time she went anywhere near him. Jill is all for discussing the love lives of others, but she's shite when it comes to doing anything about her own."

Louis sat in contemplative silence for a few moments before shaking his head. "That's still different. She didn't really know James, and she was younger. Everyone acts like that when they have a crush as a kid."

Caleb gave a groan of frustration, pushing himself up into a sitting position and giving his friend a pointed look. "Look, speaking as the only bloke in this room who's managed to successfully ask a girl out, I do know it's hard, and it's easy to let doubt and fear keep you from going after what you want, especially when there's friendship involved. But I also know that it can be totally bloody worth it."

Hugo and Louis both looked skeptically at Caleb, whose eyes were filled with conviction.

"You still believe that?" Louis asked. "Even after everything that happened, you'd do it again?"

"Yeah," said Caleb, completely unapologetic, "I would. So if you fancy her enough to be this much of a mess about it, get the hell over your fears and bloody ask her out, mate. The worst she can do is say no, and if she does, at least you put yourself out there. Won't it be better knowing you tried than not knowing what could have been if you had?"

Louis' eyes widened, obviously not having thought about that. "Oh. Yeah, maybe. I wouldn't have to wonder, then."

Hugo reached over and clapped him on the shoulder, a brilliant grin on his face. "That's the spirit."

Louis gave a bashful grin before throwing off Hugo's hand. "Shut it. You've got no room to say much of anything seeing as you've only completely cocked things up in this department so far."

Hugo looked affronted. "I have not."

Caleb snorted in amusement. "Mate, you realize Bennett is going to be insufferable when we get back to school, right? You've seen how she is with blokes, and if your snogging skills are anything to write home about, you're going to have a lot to deal with."

Hugo groaned and rubbed his eyes, strangely hoping he was a terrible kisser so he wouldn't have to put up with Anastasia Bennett more than he had to.

"Why'd you do it, anyway?" Louis asked, sounding genuinely curious if slightly judgmental.

"I knew it'd hack Lily off," he said with a shrug. "And there's no need to tell me that's a dick move, I already know that. But she was there and obviously willing and Lily was being a…"

He trailed off, throwing a glance at Caleb, who looked simultaneously defeated and ready to curse Hugo if he said anything too bad about Lily.

"Anyway," he said uncomfortably, "speaking of Lily, that's actually why I'm here."

They both perked up at this, curious and almost hopeful.

"You two finally make up?" asked Louis. Hugo grimaced and shook his head, causing both of the other boys to slouch a bit in disappointment.

"No," he said regretfully. Not because he wished he'd made things right with his cousin, but because he most definitely did not want to deliver this news. "Any chance you two have seen your Hogwarts letters yet? They came this morning."

They both shook their heads, eyes wide. Hugo nodded, having assumed that was the case seeing as they'd barely left Louis' room.

"Hey, we should open them!" Louis suddenly said enthusiastically, moving to stand from the bed. "See which one of us is Quidditch Captain."

Excitement lit up Caleb's features, and Hugo felt a pit forming in his stomach. This was one of the reasons he'd been so worried. Over the past few weeks, it had been a topic of conversation on a few occasions that either Louis or Caleb was likely to be named Captain. Even though they'd only been on the team a year, they were the oldest members. Hugo could see the sense in it being one of them. Then again, Lily had been on the team since her fourth year, and from a logical standpoint, picking someone who was going to be sticking around longer than a year made perfect sense. Not to mention she was a Potter. It was in her blood.

Hugo grimaced as Caleb and Louis stood and began to make their way towards the door. "You didn't get it," he forced out. Both of them instantly froze before turning to look at him in confusion. Hugo's eyes moved almost pleadingly to Caleb, hoping he would put everything together and Hugo wouldn't have to say it himself.

A few moments later, he got his wish.

"Fuck, no," Caleb said with wide eyes, hardly daring to believe it. Louis caught on a moment later, his jaw dropping in outrage.

"_Lily?"_ he said in disbelieving outrage. "Lily's the new Captain? _Our_ Captain?"

Hugo nodded.

"Fuck!" Caleb said again, aiming a kick at a box of cereal that was sitting on the floor. It sailed across the room, flinging food everywhere as he gripped his hair with both hands. The outburst was enough to snap Louis out of his shocked outrage, concern for his best friend obvious on his face.

"It sort of make sense, if you think about it," Hugo offered, knowing it probably wouldn't help matters much. Both of them stood there in thought for a moment, Louis appearing to seriously think it over, while Caleb kept his eyes closed tightly shut and shook his head, his hands still gripping his hair. Eventually, Louis let out a resigned sigh.

"I suppose so," he said, moving back towards his bed and plopping down on the edge of it. "It's still pretty fucking inconvenient."

Caleb let out a harsh laugh, his arms falling to his sides as he looked at Louis. "Inconvenient? I'll tell you what's inconvenient. You lousy sods making a stink about her behavior so now everything's as complicated and messed up as it is!"

"Hey!" Louis said defensively.

"Just shut up," Caleb said harshly. "I know we all messed up and the whole thing was and is hard on both of you, but I fucking fell in love with a girl two bloody years ago, and I was forced to walk away from her not too long after I finally had her. So don't come crying to me about how the girl you fancy might not fancy you back, or how you're temporarily estranged from your best friend," he threw at Hugo. "Because let's face it, it's only a matter of time before you two miss each other too damn much and you forget the whole thing. Neither of you know just how bloody hard it was for me to tell the girl I love that I couldn't be with her anymore. So just shut the hell up."

A deafening silence rang in the room, disrupted only by the music that was still softly playing from Louis' stereo. He and Hugo were both looking at Caleb with slightly guilty and gobsmacked expressions. As much as he wanted to argue some of Caleb's points, Hugo no longer had the heart to. Because as much as he really did miss Lily and wished things were right between them, he knew Caleb was hurting more. Especially because he was right. Eventually, he and Lily would get past this, but Caleb didn't have that guarantee.

"Fuck, mate," Louis said a bit breathlessly. "I'm sorry."

Caleb sighed and waved dismissively. "Forget it. None of this makes any of this any better. We're all just going to have to suck it up a deal with the fact that this year has already been shot to hell."

Hugo gave a snort of unamused agreement, while also hoping for everyone's sake that Caleb was wrong.

* * *

**A/N: I know I've been a bit sporadic on my updates, so I'm trying to make up for it with some extra ones! Especially since life is about to get even crazier these next few weeks. I loved writing the scene with the boys so I hope you enjoyed it! **


	4. More Than A Feeling

While the day had been outrageously hot the year before, it threatened rain this time around. Lily had been watching the dark sky since she'd woken up that morning, and rather than growing brighter, it had turned a deep and dreary gray.

"Maybe we should postpone," she heard her dad suggest for about the fifth time that morning as they looked out at the yard from the back patio.

"There'll be no other time to do it," her mother pointed out. "We got lucky when we were able to change the date last year."

Harry let out a resigned sigh. "I suppose you're right. And it's not like we've never played in the rain before."

An hour later, family members began to arrive for lunch, and as much as Lily wanted to play Quidditch, she was partially disappointed that they hadn't canceled. In all the years they'd held their yearly summer Quidditch match, she'd never once not looked forward to it. And she had even more of a reason to be excited this year. She was going to be Gryffindor's Captain! She should be thrilled to have a chance to get some playing time in. It was a testament to how screwed up things were that she was actually dreading the day.

Hopefully, if she could just manage to get through lunch with her cousins, she would be able to handle everything else.

Lunch was always rather informal when they had this many people over. Her mum would set out various meats and cheeses and other toppings for sandwiches, along with fruits and vegetables and crisps. There was no seating arrangement. Everyone went where they wanted, either outside or on the patio or in the living room. Typically, Lily would join most of her cousins in claiming the best seats on the patio, but she knew she wouldn't be welcome this time around.

So, instead, she cast one more look at where Hugo, Louis, Molly, and Lucy were sitting around the table, before squeezing through various relatives that she didn't even stop to acknowledge and making her way down the empty hallway that led to her dad's study.

Thoughts of Christmas Eve and the excitement and contentment and joy she'd felt that day in this exact room threatened to overwhelm Lily as she sat at her dad's desk. Things had been so different then. So simple. Even though they weren't. Not really. They were just setting themselves up for everything that was to come.

There'd been a few times over the past few weeks that Lily had found herself thinking about how she could have possibly done things differently and avoided this whole mess. Maybe she wasn't seeing things objectively. Maybe she wasn't as blameless as she thought. Maybe she should actually seriously consider talking to Hugo, who seemed to be doing just fine without her. But her determination to be stubborn had won out, the doubt that had started to worm itself in determinedly kept at bay.

She only had a few moments to pick at her food and slip into self pity and melancholy before there was a soft knock on the door that she'd left cracked open behind her. Lily let out a sigh when Rose stuck her head in, an uncertain look on her face and a plate of food in her hands.

"Can we join you?" Rose asked, obviously fearful of being unwelcome, but Lily was a bit more preoccupied with whom she meant when she said "we".

"We're just here to keep you company," Rose assured Lily after seeing the skeptical look on her face. Reluctantly, Lily nodded, trusting Rose not to spring someone completely unwelcome on her, and even coming close to smiling when she saw who had accompanied her cousin.

"I haven't gotten to see you since you've been back," said Roxanne, a friendly smile on her face as Rose conjured two chairs so they could sit across from Lily.

"I know," said Lily. "I haven't exactly been very social."

Roxanne nodded as she chewed on a strawberry. "I've noticed."

No one said anything after that, the three girls focused on their lunches. It was comfortable, which Lily hadn't been expecting. Their behavior didn't make her feel judged or backed into a corner. They truly did seem to just want to keep her company and had no plans to pry. They didn't expect her to talk at all. That, combined with the fact that she'd been incredibly lonely the past few weeks and hadn't really talked to anyone about everything that had happened, was probably why Lily decided to speak up.

"It's just that I don't particularly feel like spending time with people who hate me," she explained, her words coming out nonchalant even as they threatened pain. "And don't tell me they don't, because your brother-" she said with a glance at Rose, "-made it perfectly clear that he wants me out of his life."

She paused to collect herself, having begun to work herself up as what she refused to acknowledge as anything other than frustration and anger started to build once again.

"I mean, it's not like I want anything to do with him either," she continued, now hardly thinking about the words she was saying. "He's the reason my heart's broken. He didn't care at all that I was happy and in love. All he cared about was the fact that having someone else in my life meant there was less room for him. It's not my fault that he's not mature enough to handle change. I have every right to do what I want with my life and spend time with whoever I please, and I'm not apologizing for going after what I want.

"And he actually _expects_ me to apologize," she continued, her temper rising. "Honestly, it's the most ridiculous thing he's ever done. _I'm _the one whose heart got broken. _I'm _the one who lost someone. He has no clue what I'm going through."

Lily fell silent, her venting having renewed her frustrations as she sat there with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. And to think she'd actually had a fleeting thought about trying to talk to Hugo today.

"I think he does," said Rose, her voice so soft that Lily hadn't been certain at first that she'd spoken. "He's lost you."

A sharp stab of pain went through Lily's heart at Rose's words, but she steadied herself and chose to ignore it.

"It's not the same," she said with a shake of her head. "And it's not like the two of you would understand either. Neither of you have ever been dumped before. Rose, you and Scorp have been a long time coming, and I don't see either of you ever walking away from each other. And Rox, was there ever a time when you and Lorcan weren't inevitable? Neither of you have any clue what it's like to lose someone you love. Someone you thought you had a future with and would always be there. It hurts like hell."

Her words had grown cold and distant, and she was starting to rethink this whole talking thing. She'd been stupid to think they'd understand.

"I _do_ know."

This time it was Roxanne who'd spoken up, and Lily looked at her in confusion. "How could you possibly know?"

"Because I've lost someone too, Lily," she said, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears and her voice strong but filled with pain. "What I thought my future was going to be changed in the blink of an eye. And maybe it's not the same as what you're going through, since I don't know what it's like to have someone choose to walk away from you, but I do know what it feels like to imagine a future for yourself only to have it ripped away. I know what it feels like to be heartbroken, and to wonder if anything will ever be okay again."

Lily's heart fell into her stomach, her own eyes stinging as she watched Rose reach out and hold Roxanne's slightly shaking hand. She'd completely forgotten about what Roxanne had gone through. About the child she and Lorcan had lost.

"It might seem like the end of the world," Roxanne continued, "but it isn't. I know how strong you are, Lily, so I know you can get through this. The choice you have to make is how. Are you going to feel sorry for yourself and wallow in your suffering, or are you going to do whatever you can to make things right? Because you _can_. You haven't really lost anyone yet. Not for good. So take advantage of that and get off your arse and do something about this mess."

Lily nearly jumped when Roxanne stood abruptly, taking her empty plate and half drunk butterbeer before walking quickly out of the room. Lily turned to look at Rose, who seemed to be at a complete loss for what to say.

"I didn't mean to…" Lily began uncertainly, and felt reassured when Rose gave her a small smile.

"I know," she said, "and I don't mean to pile things on or make you feel worse, but you need to start paying attention to other people, Lily. I didn't need Hugo telling me to realize how selfish you've been acting."

Lily's natural instinct was to snap at Rose. To argue and tell her she was wrong. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it.

Maybe Rose was right. Maybe Hugo was right. Maybe all she'd been thinking about was herself. She'd told herself that wasn't true, that she was thinking of Caleb too, but had she even considered how much it had hurt him to do what he'd done? How much it had hurt him to see his friendship with Louis fall apart? To see her lose her best friend? She'd been so focused on her own pain, she'd completely forgotten everyone else's. Not only that, she hadn't even considered it.

And she felt horrible for being insensitive towards Roxanne. She hadn't meant to cause her pain, but just the fact that she hadn't even stopped to think if her words could do any type of damage proved how selfish and self absorbed she was. There should be a little Scamander being passed around today, but there wasn't. And the thought broke Lily's heart even more.

She wiped at the tears she hadn't realized had fallen. "I'm sorry," she said with a sniff. "I've been horrid, haven't I?"

It took Rose less than a second to be kneeling in front of Lily, her arms going around her as Lily let herself cry into her hands, her forehead resting on her cousin's shoulder.

"You can still fix this," Rose said in a soothing tone as she rubbed Lily's back. "I know Hugo misses you, and I bet Caleb does to."

Lily let out a scoff as she sat up, wiping away more tears and sniffling. "No they don't."

"They do," Rose assured her. "Hugo's been miserable, and I know he's lonely. This whole thing has left so many of you on your own, and I know it would help make everything better if you actually talked to him and really tried to make things right this time."

Hoping Rose was right, Lily nodded. "I'll try. If he'll even talk to me. And I do want to make things right. Despite how much I tried to deny it at times, I've really missed him."

Rose gave her a small smile before hugging her once again. "It'll be all right, Lily," she whispered as she held her tightly. And Lily could do nothing except squeeze her back and desperately hope she was right.

* * *

Anxiety coursed through Louis as he watched the sky threaten to ruin their plans. Lunch was coming to an end, which meant that all of the non family members that would be participating in the day were due any minute. That is if the weather held out. Just a bit longer. And he would really appreciate it if it did.

You see, Louis had a plan. A half formed plan that he was nervous as hell to execute, but a plan nonetheless.

Today, he'd be seeing the lively and beautiful Jill Boot - a girl that he'd known for a long time now, but that he'd only recently fully accepted the extent of his feelings for. He'd always liked her as a person and felt himself drawn to her, but he'd refused to see his interest in her for what it was until a few months ago, when the actions of someone else had forced him to own how he truly felt.

In a way, he was actually thankful for the French prat that had made a move on Jill over Easter. If Louis hadn't been forced to realized that _he _wanted to be the one going on a date with her, he might never have resolved to do what he could to make it happen.

It hadn't been an overnight resolution either. He'd needed a swift kick in the rear from Hugo and Caleb. That, combined with his fear that he would lose his nerve, had gotten him to where he was today - determined to make some type of move that made it clear to Jill that he was very much interested in being more than her friend.

However, if there was one thing he could always count on his family to be, it was in the way.

He'd been dragged outside with Hugo, Al, Teddy, and James, all of them charged with the task of setting up the pitch. Louis was doing his best to be of assistance, while also keeping an eye on the house as people began to arrive.

"Oi! Careful!" Teddy exclaimed, snapping Louis out of his distraction. "You nearly clobbered me."

Louis grinned guilty as he corrected his hold on the goal post he was helping his brother-in-law secure. "Sorry."

Teddy looked at Louis curiously as he waved his wand so the loose dirt firmed up around the bottom of the pole. "You all right? You've seemed a bit out of it today."

"Yeah," said Louis, determined to act like he wasn't distracted by Jill's impending arrival. "Just tired, I guess."

Teddy gave an amused snort as he cast a few spells to secure and extend the post while Louis held it steady. "All that doing nothing with your holiday wearing you out?"

Louis chuckled at the smirk his brother-in-law shot him. "Something like that."

"Poor you," Teddy said with a chuckle, but the sound was drowned out by a laugh that Louis knew very well coming from the direction of the house. A laugh he'd been dying to hear for weeks.

He spun around, his eyes frantically searching for Jill. They landed on what he thought was the back of her before she disappeared into the house.

"Um, we're all good here," Teddy's voice broke through, his tone obviously amused. "Feel free to head in since you're...tired."

Louis glanced at Teddy, his cheeks threatening to turn pink as the sky rumbled with the threat of a storm. He heard Teddy hollering something to James about preparing for eventual rain, but didn't waste another second before heading towards the house, trying his best not to look like he was rushing. Or anxious. Or terrified.

He'd nearly made it when Lily stepped through the back door, and Louis was so preoccupied with what he was going to say to Jill and how he was going to greet her - should he give her a hug? - that he didn't even think to be annoyed with Lily when he spoke to her.

"People starting to show up?" Louis asked as he drew closer to his cousin. Lily nodded, her arms crossed as she chewed her lip nervously and looked past him to where her brothers and Teddy and Hugo were still working.

Louis made to walk past her, but stopped short when he heard her give a sharp intake of breath. Her eyes were wide as they caught sight of something to his right, her gaze then moving across the yard behind him.

"What?" Louis asked, turning to follow her gaze, a pretty solid idea forming of what had caused her reaction that was proved correct a moment later. Caleb had arrived, apparently having chosen to Apparate into the front yard and walk around back upon seeing the work being done to set up the pitch.

For the most part, Louis had been annoyed and frustrated by Lily's behavior, and even though she was family, he'd felt it necessary to stand by his best friend after their break up. Caleb had been a bit of a mess, letting out all of his energy by spending endless time practicing Quidditch in his backyard and not saying much of anything. The day that Hugo had told them about Lily being made Captain had been the first time he'd opened up about it since telling Louis he'd ended things, but he hadn't said another word about Lily or the team or really anything since then, choosing to talk about absolutely anything else and almost pretending like it hadn't happened. He'd shut down. Louis had done what he could to be there for him after pulling himself out of his own self inflicted heartache, but it was hard to know how to help Caleb when he'd become so closed off.

As Caleb approached Hugo and Teddy, who were opening up the crate of equipment, it was hard to tell that anything had been bothering him at all. He walked with an easy and comfortable gait, his smile casual and relaxed as he hollered something to grab Hugo's attention, who looked up and smiled before standing to greet his friend.

None of this was a shock to Louis. Hugo had been spending a lot of time with both of them over the summer, a change that Louis would have appreciated more if it weren't for the circumstances surrounding it. He hadn't said anything about Lily either. They all knew they couldn't avoid it forever, but it had been nice to have an unspoken understanding to let it be for now. They'd have plenty to deal with once they got back to school.

Not really wanting to be sympathetic to Lily, Louis turned to continue inside, his mission of finding Jill coming back to the forefront of his mind, but Lily had other ideas.

He gave a huff of annoyance and looked down at her pointedly when she grabbed his arm to stop him, but he couldn't help softening at the look of utter misery on her face.

"They're…they're talking to each other?" she asked, her voice strained and disbelieving. "They made up?"

Louis glanced back over his shoulder to where Hugo and Caleb were now tossing a Quaffle with James, easy conversation and laughter floating across the rather foreboding wind. Louis gave a nod, slightly confused by her reaction.

"Yeah, they did awhile ago. We've been hanging out quite a bit this summer."

It wasn't until after he'd said it that Louis realized what type of effect this news might have on Lily. Her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, and her cousin had been spending all summer without her. And based on how at ease Hugo and Caleb seemed, they were completely fine. Though Louis knew better. There was still pain under the surface of those smiles.

Lily, however, was too blinded by betrayal to see it, and her look of anguish quickly changed to one of shock as she looked at Louis, almost as if begging him to take back what he'd just said. But he couldn't.

Her grip on his arm tightened as she turned to look back at two of the people she cared about the most in the world, her gaze hardening and anger obvious in her eyes as a few drops of rain began to fall. Before Louis could come up with anything to say that could possibly help, she let go of his arm and spun around to march back into the house.

"Lily, wait," he called after her as she flung open the door. "They both - shit!"

She'd attempted to slam the door closed behind her, which Louis nearly ran into. He gave an annoyed huff before opening the door and following her in.

There was a large crowd of people, which wasn't normal. Usually, people would head out back rather than into the house, but the looming bad weather had changed that. Lily had easily disappeared on him, so after failing to spot her, he decided he might as well work towards going though with his plan again. Scanning the room once more and seeing no sign of Jill, Louis squeezed past a few of his uncles before reaching his sister, who was laughing in delight at a very angry and embarrassed looking Fred.

"Hey, either of you seen...Molly?" Louis asked, changing his mind at the last moment. He wasn't avoiding his plans. It was very likely that Jill would be wherever Molly was.

"Yeah," Dom managed to choke out through her laughter. "I just saw her go into the kitchen with Ethan."

Louis gave a nod of thanks while his sister started cackling at their cousin once again, who indignantly told her that whatever she was laughing at wasn't funny. While Dom hadn't made any mention of Jill, Louis figured it wouldn't hurt to stick around Molly, since she'd probably lead him to her eventually.

He hadn't been expecting to see anything out of the ordinary upon entering the kitchen, and the sight of his cousin standing at the island in the middle of the room while pouring herself a glass of water was perfectly normal. It was the young Auror standing behind her with his hands on her waist as she giggled at whatever he whispered in her ear that had him stopping in his tracks.

Confusion coursed through Louis, quickly followed by hurt and frustration.

"What the bleeding _hell_?!" he hissed as the door swung shut behind him. Molly and Ethan both jumped in surprise, their wide eyes flying to Louis as Ethan reflexively took a small step away from Molly.

"You two decide it was best to mess around behind everyone's backs too?" Louis snapped at them. "Seeing as that went so well for everyone last time?"

Molly's look of shock quickly changed to understanding. "Lou, that's not what this is," she assured him. Her gaze flickered to a nervous and confused looking Ethan, and Louis watched unconvinced as Molly reached out for Ethan's hand. "We're not hiding this," she continued, her gaze going back to Louis as Ethan stepped closer to her once again and slipped his hand into hers. "It's new. We've only been together for a few weeks."

Some of Louis' ire went out of him as Ethan nodded. "And you knew this was coming, remember?" he pointed out. "You even teased me about it the night you lot came home from school."

A bit of guilt for snapping at them hit Louis at Ethan's words. Dom had made mention to him in passing that Ethan liked Molly, but that was as much as he'd known. And he'd forgotten about all of that with everything else going on in his life.

"Right, sorry," Louis mumbled "So that's as long as this has been going on?" he asked, gesturing between them. His skepticism was rewarded by slightly guilty expressions from both of them.

"Not exactly," said Ethan, his eyes meeting Molly's uncertainly before fixing his attention on Louis. "We've been writing to each other all school year, but nothing really happened until the night you all came home."

Memories of Molly pouring over letters in the joint common room or at breakfast flashed across Louis' mind. He'd seen her diligently writing a good many too. He'd never thought too hard about who'd been on the other end, assuming it had been her parents. But if he'd really thought about it, he might have realized that there was something about how engrossed she always was in those particularly long letters that gave away the fact that they were not from her parents. Especially combined with the teasing remarks she sometimes got from Jill.

_Jill. _

His original purpose in coming into the kitchen came back to him once again.

"We weren't trying to be secretive, Louis," Molly assured him, "but I never said anything at school because nothing had really even happened yet. I didn't want to bring more people into it than necessary in case things didn't work out. You know how things spread in our family. I didn't want to have to deal with that when there wasn't even anything to tell."

Louis sighed, completely understanding her and honestly planning to behave the exact same when he got the chance. "It's all right," he assured her. "And I'm happy for you. Blimey, didn't really see that coming."

They both smiled, sharing what could only be described as adoring glances with each other before turning back to Louis, who rolled his eyes but couldn't hold back a small smile.

"At least I won't have to deal with the two of you at school," he teased, joining them at the island and getting a glass of water for himself.

"Don't remind me," Ethan grumbled, and Louis felt a pang of guilt for being so careless. Of course they weren't looking forward to being apart.

"Sorry," Louis mumbled as Molly wound her arms around Ethan's waist while one of his went around her shoulders. "That'll be shit."

They gave him what equated to grateful grimaces, silence falling for a moment before Molly spoke up.

"Have you seen Jill yet?" she asked Louis, who managed not to choke on the gulp of water he'd just taken. "She was looking for you."

"Yeah?" Louis asked, attempting to act smooth and disinterested even though his heart was about to beat out of his chest. "Did she say why?"

Molly shook her head and looked like she was about to say something else, but then all Louis' hopes of finding Jill before the Quidditch match were squashed by the sound of James hollering from the next room for everyone to head outside.

Damn his family. Didn't they know he had plans?!

* * *

**A/N: To make up for my absence, I will be posting the chapter that is the followup to this one very soon! And please let me know what you think! This is the first time seeing things from Louis' POV. And you'll get more of that at the beginning of the next chapter! Thanks for following, and remember to review!**


	5. Who'll Stop the Rain?

With a resigned sigh, Louis followed Molly and Ethan out of the kitchen, whom he noted continued to hold hands. He supposed they really weren't trying to hide anything after all.

It wasn't until they were outside and the teams separated into boys and girls that Louis finally caught sight of Jill, who noticed him as well and gave him a smile and a quick wave. She had her soft, light brown hair pulled back in a French braid that fell almost halfway down her back. He hadn't realized how long it had grown. It was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen.

_Snap out of it, Louis_, he mentally chided himself, attempting to casually return her greeting. He was dangerously close to staring a bit too obviously.

Shaking his head as if to clear it, Louis wondered when it had gotten this bad. He hadn't acted like a love-struck fool around her while they were at school. And while it was true she was pretty - and he acknowledged that his bias meant he probably thought she was prettier than the average person would - he'd never found it to be in a way that rendered him unable to properly function. But whatever immunity he'd built up to her had gone completely out the window. And it probably all came back to his stupid plan.

If it weren't for the fact that he actually planned to talk to her and make a move, and if it weren't for the fact that he'd actually let himself picture what could happen between them, he'd probably be perfectly capable of having a normal conversation with her. As things stood - with his heart pounding, his head fuzzy, and his brow sweaty - he'd be lucky to string together a coherent sentence that wouldn't make him sound like a total idiot.

Did this mean he'd have to abandon his plan for the sake of his dignity? He really didn't want to end up looking like a fool and lose any shot he might have with her, but he really didn't like the idea of not having a plan. Plans helped get things done. Plans were things you could count on, right?

"Lou! You're on my right!" James hollered, forcing Louis to forget any plans for the moment as James tossed the Quaffle to Teddy. Louis mounted his broom and followed after James. He hadn't been paying attention when his cousin had given people their positions, so he took note as Hugo flew to the hoops, Scorpius joined him and James, and Fred and Lorcan wielded bats. He didn't need to look around to know Al would be playing Seeker.

As they lined up to start, he checked to see who was starting things off for the girls, not that surprised to find Jill not in the starting lineup. Not only was it tradition for as many members of the family to start things off as possible, but Jill really wasn't very good at Quidditch. She actually flew quite well, but only when both of her hands were firmly holding onto her broom. It was a bit of a relief actually that she wasn't playing. It would be easier for Louis to stay focused that way.

The girls were taking their positions as well. Rose was in the hoops, Violet and Lucy wielding bats, Molly, Dom, and Roxanne in the Chaser positions, and Lily, of course, ready to race Al for the Snitch. Louis' future Captain had a look of determination on her face that was a bit frightful to behold. He thought for a moment to warn Al to expect some rough play from his sister, but then Teddy was blowing a whistle, all the balls were released, and play had begun.

One thing Louis had always loved about Quidditch was the ability it gave him to turn his mind off to everything else. All there was in the world were him, his broom, the Quaffle, his teammates, and his opponents. Even after spending a year on the school team, this match was still the one he enjoyed playing in most. He'd missed getting to jeer at his sister, who gave it back just as good. He enjoyed getting to play with Al and Scorpius, who were normally on the opposing side. He got to laugh with his cousins and his friends, enjoying the competition but not taking it too seriously. It had always been more about the time spent together and the fun they had than anything else.

But this year, as the lightly falling rain threatened to come down harder, things didn't seem fun. They didn't seem lighthearted. They seemed tense and charged. And it was because Lily was fiercely flying around the pitch, snapping out instructions to her teammates, making less than playful jabs at her opponents, and continuing to scowl as if they'd all seriously wronged her.

Play continued for half an hour, the weather matching the dark edge that Lily was bringing to the game. James was growing frustrated, obviously wanting to restrain his sister but knowing there really wasn't much he could do. Dom had yelled at her a few times to back off, but this had mostly just served to egg her on. And as Teddy blew the whistle signaling it was time for players to sub out, Louis watched Caleb fly up to the hoops to relieve Hugo, who was shaking his head, a look of resigned disappointment on his face. Louis had to admit he felt the same.

He'd hoped things would start to get better. He'd hoped she'd at least try to be civil. But Lily Potter was showing them that not only could she hold a grudge, but having her as a Quidditch Captain was probably going to be hell.

After being relieved by Bobby Finnigan, Louis landed on the sidelines, giving a breathless thanks to Molly, who'd joined him on the ground and handed him a bottle of water.

"Quit holding up the fucking game!"

Louis groaned at the sound of the voice that carried all across the yard and above the sound of the now steadily falling rain. He and Molly shared a foreboding look before turning to look up at where Lily was now flying past the hoops that Hugo was still talking to Caleb in front of. Louis watched nervously as Caleb's jaw clenched and his eyes hardened. Hugo threw a glance Lily's way as she sped off before he gripped Caleb's arm and spoke to him in an undertone. Caleb gave a tense nod before Hugo clapped him on the back. He was about to fly down when Lily - having circled the pitch - made her way back to them. And Louis knew things were about to fall apart.

"Oi! Quit dawdling!" she snapped at them. "You think everyone likes getting fucking drenched? You think it'll give you an advantage to hold things up? Or are you just _so excited_ to be best pals that you have to take every chance you get to joke around and gossip and not give two shits about the rest of us?"

Everyone had stopped whatever they were doing to stare at Lily as she laid into Hugo and Caleb, both of whom appeared to be trying to control their anger.

"Lay off, Lily," said Hugo, his voice steady as he leveled her with a hard stare. "Worry about your own team."

Lily hovered closer to her cousin, her hands on her hips as she held onto the broom with her knees. "Well, seeing as Wood here _is _part of my team, I think it's within my right to be concerned about his lack of discipline. Plan on lazing about in front of the hoops all season?" she shot at Caleb, addressing him for the first time since they'd broken up. "Do I need to plan on looking for someone a bit more capable?"

"Lay _off, _Lily," Hugo repeated, his tone seething as he moved closer to his cousin, positioning himself so he was slightly between her and a now fuming Caleb. "Today's not about you asserting yourself as Captain. It's supposed to be about friendly competition and having a good laugh, which you've now completely ruined!"

He gestured to everyone that was watching them. No one seemed eager to interfere, and Louis was grateful that the parents had chosen to forgo the rain and stay inside this year.

"I didn't ruin anything!" she shouted, now almost nose-to-nose with Hugo as they drifted closer together. "You did! And you keep ruining things! You'd think we were never really friends, and I'm starting to wonder if we ever were!"

They'd seamlessly come to the non-Quidditch related root of the problem, and Louis felt his gut clench in pain for Hugo, the look of hurt on his face obvious. To him, at least.

"Stop it, Lily!" said Caleb, flying up beside Hugo and looking at Lily with hurt and frustration. "You know none of that's true. This is all just as much your fault as anyone else's."

"My fault?!" she said, her voice high and almost hysterical as she looked between Caleb and Hugo, whom she pointed at accusingly. "Everything would be fine if he'd left well enough alone!"

"And I apologized for all of that!" Hugo hollered, his temper finally starting to get the best of him. "Why can't you just fucking let it go? You're only hurting everyone more!"

"All right, that's enough!" Teddy hollered. He'd hopped on a broom and was now hovering next to Lily, whose eyes were glassy as she looked ready to scream at Hugo. "If you lot can't-"

He was interrupted by a bright flash of lightning that was quickly followed by a loud rumble of thunder. And then Harry was sticking his head out the back door as the rain began to fall harder, hollering for them to come in out of the storm.

Louis found himself volunteering to help Teddy and James quickly pack up the gear. He lost track of Caleb and Hugo and Lily. He didn't have it in him to care at the moment anyway. It was a fucking mess and there was nothing he could do about it. No way he could help. He'd probably even helped cause what had happened just now. Lily had come outside earlier, knowing full well she'd have to see Hugo. Had she been planning to talk to him and then Louis' careless comment that seemed to communicate to her that they were fine without her changed her mind? It certainly seemed so. Hadn't she made a jab about the fact that they were "best pals"?

Trying not to blame himself too much, Louis followed after Teddy and James as they made their way back towards the house, trying to ignore their whispered conversation about what had just happened.

He let out a shiver as he stepped into the crowd of people in the Potters' house and the door shut behind him. Even though it was raining, it was still warm out, and the cool temperature of the house made him aware of just how soaked through he was.

"Here, let me," said a soft voice, the sound causing his heart to skip a beat and his breath to catch in his throat. It was immediately followed by a rush of warmth that seeped into his bones, both metaphorically and physically as Jill cast a drying charm on him. And he found he was no longer nervous to face her, the idea of her presence comforting and welcome after the train wreck that had just happened.

"Thanks," he said, turning to face her and smiling genuinely for what felt like the first time in forever. Jill gave him a soft smile in return, already dry herself, her hair a bit ruffled but still just as beautiful as ever.

"Are you all right?" she asked, her usual light and chipper voice soft and concerned as she took a step closer to him. He'd barely heard the question with everyone carrying on around them, but her concern for him was obvious in her eyes. "I know this whole thing has been hard for you too. I've been wanting to check in on you, but I didn't know if that would be okay."

She was nervous. The way she was biting her lip and looking at him uncertainly, rolling her wand between her hands the way she always did right before a big exam or something equally as nerve wracking. The thought gave him a bit more courage.

"It would've been more than okay," Louis answered honestly, and was delighted to see Jill's eyes brighten and a timid smile tug at her lips. "I know I was a bit of a prat the last few months," Louis continued, his hand going up to nervously scratch the back of his neck, "but I don't want you to think you can't talk to me or that I don't want to be your friend. Because I definitely do, even though I've been rubbish at it."

"Don't worry about it," said Jill with a dismissive wave. "The last thing I want to do is hold onto things that really aren't worth holding onto."

Louis smiled in relief, wanting desperately to pull her into a hug. Friends did that type of thing, right? He could hug her and it not be weird. Show that he truly meant what he'd said and that he appreciated her words as well.

Or he could go through with his plan, which didn't leave much room for her to doubt what his true intentions were.

He glanced outside, cursing the fact that it was raining. It was so much harder to find some privacy when everyone was so crammed together. Then again, maybe there were enough people that it would enable them to go mostly unnoticed.

With a nervous gulp, Louis took a step closer to Jill, forcing her to look up to be able to meet his gaze. "You're right," he said, his voice soft yet strong as determination swept over him. "We've wasted enough time on rubbish like that. And seeing as this is going to be our last year at school and I really don't want to waste anymore time, there's something I've been wanting to do that I haven't gotten around to yet."

Jill looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

Louis took a steadying breath before running his hand through his still slightly damp hair. "The first chance we get, I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me."

His heart was beating rapidly as Jill's eyes widened in surprise. Her cheeks turned pink at his sincere gaze, and she gave a nervous cough before focusing her eyes on her hands that were now gripping her wand tightly.

"You mean...together?" she asked tentatively, risking a glance up at him. "Just us?"

Thousands of responses rolled through Louis' head, from sarcastic to embarrassingly honest to indifferent. But all he could do was hold her gaze and nod. He watched with bated breath as a nervous smile began to grow on her face and she opened her mouth to respond.

"Louis, I-"

"There you are!" came Fred's exasperated voice from much too close. He clapped a hand on Louis' shoulder a moment later, ignoring the scowl his younger cousin shot him at being interrupted. "You're needed upstairs."

"Why?" Louis asked, not even attempting to mask his annoyance. Fred seemed equally annoyed as well.

"Because Lily's locked herself in the bathroom and says she'll only talk to you."

* * *

There was a pounding on the door that matched the pounding in her head. Lily was trying and failing to calm down, her breathing labored and her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she sat on the floor with her back against the tub. Her arms were wrapped around her legs as she rested her forehead against her knees.

Why had she done that? Why couldn't she just let it be?

Earlier, she'd had every intention of going outside to talk to Hugo, but as soon as she saw him getting on perfectly fine with Caleb - better than fine, even - followed by Louis telling her they'd all been spending the weeks together while she'd been lonely and miserable, she'd lost it.

And who could blame her, really, she reasoned. She'd spent the past few weeks thinking that if they weren't as miserable as she was, they were at least as lonely. But that wasn't true at all.

It made her feel more alone than ever.

She knew she'd been selfish. Her new discoveries and her outburst during the Quidditch match hadn't changed that. But Rose had said Hugo missed her. That he was lonely and miserable, when he was neither of those things. Aside from the fact that it hurt that they seemed to be moving on without her, Lily also found it even more difficult to comprehend talking to either one of them now. What were the chances that they'd come to the conclusion that, even if she were to apologize, she'd screwed up to the point that they didn't even care to have her in their lives anymore? That they were fine without her?

The pounding on the door sounded again, this time accompanied by her brother's voice demanding entrance.

"Go away, Al!" she hollered back.

"Lily, come on," said Rose. "What happened? I thought you were going to-"

"Whatever you thought, you were wrong!" Lily yelled back. "Now please, both of you, just go away."

She heard a few different voices conversing quietly. At least three. She was thankful that none of them had thought to pull their wands to unlock the door. Either that or they were just considerate enough to not disturb her unless she let them.

"Lily, you should at least talk to someone, okay?" said Erin. "Do you want your mum or Lucy or-"

"Louis," she said suddenly, surprising even herself a bit. "I'll only talk to Louis."

There was some whispering and shuffling around outside the door before she heard someone running off and down the stairs. It was probably a good five minutes later when there was another knock on the door, this one much softer than her brother's pounding.

"Lily?" she heard Louis say in a slightly hesitant voice. "You okay?"

For some reason, that soft, uncertain question was all it took. She was off the floor and pulling open the door a second later, a sob escaping her as soon as she took in Louis' confused expression. It turned to one of concern as he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

"What-?"

He didn't finish his question, most likely too shocked to do so when Lily wound her arms around his waist and began sobbing in earnest, her face buried in his chest. He only hesitated a second before his arms were around her shoulders and holding her tightly to him, one hand moving to rub her back every now and then as he tried to soothe her.

"I can't - I can't do this anymore, Lou," she practically wailed into his chest. "I can't act like it doesn't hurt, and - and I can't fix it. I've never been able to fix it. I've never - never been enough. I'm never going to be good enough."

She let her sobs overtake her again, absentmindedly noting that Louis had frozen at her words, though he still held her tightly.

"What the hell are you on about, Lily?" he asked, shock and confusion in his voice.

"You know it's true," she said, sniffling violently as she pulled away from him to wipe at her eyes, anger and frustration battling with brokenness and hopelessness. "It's been true for a long time."

Louis let out a sigh of frustration and stepped away from Lily, his eyes harsh as he crossed his arms and looked down at her. "If this is just going to be you feeling sorry for yourself and looking for someone to tell you what you want to hear, I'm not going to do that."

Lily took in the resolve in his eyes and let out a shaky sigh in defeat before turning away from him, walking slowly back to her previous position. She sank down to the floor and attempted to control her tears as she leaned back against the tub.

"I'm sorry," she managed to get out. "I know I'm not your favorite person right now, so you shouldn't have to stay here and listen to me blather on about my problems that are all completely my fault to begin with."

She sniffled again, not looking at Louis and continuing to dry her eyes as the tears kept falling. Part of her truly expected him to leave, but she heard her cousin sigh before moving to stand in front of her. He sank down onto the ground and sat across from her, his legs folded and his hands clasped loosely in his lap as Lily cautiously met his gaze. There was no pity in his eyes. He seemed curious and a bit frustrated and maybe even slightly concerned.

"What's this really about?" he asked, his voice soft but determined. "Why'd you want to talk to me?"

Lily shrugged, averting her eyes and pulling her knees up so she could rest her chin on them and wrap her arms around her legs. "Because you're going to be honest with me. Like you said, you're not just going to tell me what I want to hear. Anyone else I could talk to, I wouldn't trust them to see things exactly how they are and tell it like it is. But you probably will. You already have."

Louis shifted so his knees were up, his arms resting across them as she felt his eyes studying her. "Well," he said with a sigh, "seeing as I was pulled away from something at a very inconvenient time, I'll do my best to make this worth it."

Lily looked at him, a bit stung by his obvious displeasure in being there, but curious as well. "Pulled away from what?"

"Doesn't matter," he said with a shrug. "Apparently."

"You don't need to make me feel guilty, okay?" she snapped. "I feel horrible enough as it is. And you didn't have to come."

"Like it's possible to say no to you?" he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Plenty of people have done it," she said, knowing she sounded a bit pitiful. "The last few weeks have been a pretty good example of that."

"All right," he said in frustration, folding his legs down in front of him again and leaning slightly forward, his blonde hair falling across his forehead as he looked at her. "Seeing as the last few months were a complete mess because none of us seem to be able to talk to each other, you're going to talk to me. You're going to tell me everything that's bothering you and everything you're feeling, no matter how inconsequential or stupid it is or how uncomfortable it makes either of us. Because this has been going on too damn long and I don't see how it could get much worse. And as much as I might hate it, talking is going to be the only way we fix any of this. So out with it."

Lily looked at her cousin with wide eyes. Louis had always been resistant to talking about anything too emotional or personal, usually brushing it off as soft and unimportant. She remembered when Victoire moved out and Dom had been noticeably upset, but Louis had shrugged it off, acting like it was no big deal and even seeming annoyed with the moving process and that he'd rather be anywhere else. He was the same about Victoire and Teddy's wedding. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him cry. So the fact that he was sitting here and not only willing to do this, but insisting on it, compelled her more than anything else anyone could have said to convince her to talk.

"I just… It hurt, okay?" she said, her voice cracking with the pain as her eyes filled with tears again, unable to meet Louis' gaze as she bore her soul. "Seeing them all fine and enjoying themselves. It's not that I don't want them to be happy, because even when I've been bloody furious with them I've wanted that, but does it have to be without me?"

She paused, her voice shaking too much to be able to form coherent words. Louis just watched her patiently until she got her breathing under control and continued.

"It's happened before, you know," said Lily as she wiped at her face in frustration. "James has always had Fred and then Violet to run off with, Al's always had Rose and now Erin. And then Lucy had to go and get sorted into Hufflepuff. And I love Charlotte, really, but it's always been the two of them more than anything else. And it's only a matter of time before Lucy and Bobby get their act together and I lose her even more."

Lily let the words she was saying sweep over her, the truth of them sinking in more than they ever had before. And then the pain of the last few months hit her even more keenly.

"I always thought I'd have Hugo," she said, her voice wobbly as her tears continued to fall. "We've always had each other, you know? I've always come in second to others in James' and Al's lives, but no matter how much I couldn't seem to hold onto anyone else, I just knew Hugo was going to be there, so the rest didn't matter as much.

"But then Caleb happened, and I was even less alone than I was before. Because he saw me and he wanted me and he made sure I knew that. I don't think I've ever been happier than those first few months where it felt like nothing could touch us and everything was completely right. I didn't expect everything that came after. I thought Hugo would be happy for me, because he understood, you know? He knows it hasn't been easy to not have the closeness I want with my brothers or Lucy. To come in second to so many people. To have another person who put me first was incredible, and I don't think I realized until a few weeks ago when Hugo told me how much the way I'd handle everything hurt him that I'd done the same thing to him that I hated having done to me. I was putting him second and not caring about what it did to him. Because I just assumed he'd always be there.

"And now it's all my fault that he's not and I really can't blame him. I was horrible. He might have overreacted a bit, but that doesn't mean I should have just dismissed his feelings and called him selfish for feeling the exact way I would have felt had our roles been reversed.

"I really am sorry for how I behaved," Lily continued, still refusing to meet Louis' eyes, "and I was prepared to apologize and grovel and do what I could today to makes things better, but…" her voice grew shaky as she worked to control her tears. "But seeing them together, happy and without me… I just lost it, Lou. I felt left behind all over again. And what makes it worse is that this time I _know _it was all my fault. I've always wondered if it was whenever it happened before, but I don't have to this time."

Her voice had grown continually unsteady as she spoke, until she was sure Louis could hardly even understand her as she broke down into sobs, burying her face in her arms where they rested on top of her knees. Her body shook as it all came pouring out, the hurt and the guilt and the pain and the fear that nothing would ever be okay again. She could feel the tears and snot running down her face as she just let herself grieve everything she'd done and everything she'd tarnished and destroyed.

It could have been minutes or hours later when she finally started to calm down and heard the sound of Louis moving around, eventually registering his presence as he sat next to her.

"Here," he said in a soft voice, and Lily felt something tickle her arm. She looked up just enough to see that he was offering a box of tissues, and she took one with a mumbled thanks.

"You know," he said after a few moments of silence, his smooth voice soft and contemplative, "most people would probably think that it's hard to feel lonely when you have a big family, but I think it's easier."

Lily finally looked up at him as she grabbed another tissue, balling up the first one and tossing it easily into the bin by the sink. "Like how it's easy to just fly under the radar?" she said. "For people to think 'they're fine. They've got plenty of people to keep them company.' Except when everyone thinks that and you end up getting lost in the shuffle."

Louis gave a hum of agreement and nodded, his gaze fixed in front of him and his arms resting on his knees. "That's exactly how I felt after Easter."

Lily looked at him with wide eyes. Louis was one of the most popular members of her family at school and the most well known boy in his year. Maybe in all of them now that Al and Scorpius were gone. "You?" she asked incredulously. "Lonely?"

"See, you're making the same incorrect assumptions you were just accusing others of," he said with a sigh. Lily felt slightly guilty, realizing he was right. How quickly people assume others always have it better than they do.

She watched him as he sat there silently, tearing at his fingernails as he held back whatever was bothering him.

"Seeing as I just spilled my guts to you…" Lily said tentatively, giving him an open and encouraging look. He shot her a glance that was a bit disgruntled before letting out a sigh and stretching his legs out in front of him. He then proceeded to tell her everything that happened over his Easter break, including the way it made him feel left behind.

"And then Caleb telling me the day we headed back to school that he's been seeing you for months without telling me, it was just a lot all at once," he continued. "I know it was never anyone's intention to make me feel left out or like I didn't matter, but it happened anyway, and I'll even admit that I sort of let it. I closed down and didn't talk to anyone about how I was really feeling, choosing to point the finger at you and Caleb and Jill instead. Not my best moment, but I'm trying to make up for it."

Lily nodded, a bit in shock after Louis' confession. "You and Jill made up, yeah?" Lily couldn't help asking. Louis nodded, a tentative smile flickering across his lips and his cheeks turning a slight pink as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. It was sweet to see him like this, and Lily probably would have told him so if she didn't think it would make him close up immediately.

"I'm really sorry we made you feel that way," she said softly. "We really didn't mean to alienate anybody."

"I know," Louis said with a sigh. "And we could talk this whole thing to death if we wanted, but I think it's safe to say that everyone had expectations, but when those aren't communicated, things get messy. And that's exactly what happened. You and Caleb expected everyone to be happy for you and support you, Hugo expected to still be just as important as he always was, and I...well, I suppose I expected to not get left behind. In a lot of ways. And if we'd all just talked to each other about all those things from the start, most of this could have been avoided."

Lily groaned and rested her head on her knees again. "I know," she said. "But that doesn't exactly fix things."

Louis was quiet for a moment, and Lily took the time to think over how much she'd missed over the past few months. How much she hadn't seen.

"What you said before…" Louis began hesitantly. "About not being enough?"

Lily tensed, her arms tightening around her legs as she hesitated before nodding as best she could with her head still resting on her knees.

"You know that's not true, right?"

This time she shrugged, still unable to look up at him.

"Your brothers love you to death and would do anything for you," Louis continued as if it were obvious. "Lucy will be there whenever you need her, and you known, no matter what you're going through or how much you may think you hate each other, Hugo will always be there for you. Without a doubt. You _do _know that, right?"

Lily was crying in earnest once again, and then Louis was pulling her into his arms and holding her tight. "And Caleb…" he hesitated after mumbling the words against the top of her head, causing Lily to cry even more. "Caleb's crazy about you, Lily. It's insane how much he loves you."

Lily felt like the wind had been knocked out of her, her sobs stopping short and her eyes flying open. "What?" she managed to ask in a strained voice. Louis gave an amused snort.

"Of course he does. Did you think that changed?"

Lily slowly extricated herself from Louis' hold, sitting up to look at his confused expression as she struggled for words.

"Louis," she said breathlessly, "did Caleb actually say that? That he loves me?"

Now Louis looked even more confused. "Yeah, a few times. Why? Has he not…"

Louis' eyes widened as he realized what he'd just done, but all Lily could do - surprisingly - was grin.

"Shit, he never told you that, did he?"

Lily shook her head, her hand going to her mouth to cover her smile as a laugh threatened to escape. Louis was watching her uncertainly, and then she wasn't sure if she was laughing or crying or both. All she knew was that she was feeling everything all at once and it was both liberating and exhausting and the best and worst thing in the world.

"This… this is _insane_," Lily managed to get out in the midst of what was quickly turning into hysterical crying. Or laughing. She still couldn't tell which. "I mean, neither of us ever said that when we were together, you know? But...but now?" she said, her hands running through her chin length hair as she shook her head and looked at Louis with a gobsmacked expression. "Did we seriously miss the only chance we had to actually tell each other how we feel?"

Her laughter had completely faded now, realizing that the answer to her question was a resounding yes. They'd missed their chance. She'd blown it. And so had Caleb.

Lily slumped down and leaned into her cousin's side, his arm going around her shoulder once again, her tears no longer falling and a numbness starting to take over. "What do I do, Lou?"

She felt her cousin take a deep breath before letting it out slowly, his cheek resting on the top of her head. "I've honestly got no bloody clue, but after today, the first thing he needs is a little bit of time before you should even think about trying to talk to him."

Lily groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I was so fucking horrible, wasn't I?"

Louis gave a silent chuckle and squeezed her shoulder. "Just a bit. But if you're really as sorry as you seem to be, you might be able to work something out. At least hash out everything that's happened and apologize to each other. Same goes for you and Hugo."

She knew he was right, but she also didn't want to allow herself to hope for too much. She didn't feel like she deserved that yet.

But that was part of the problem, wasn't it? Her feeling like she wasn't good enough, fearing people would give up on her and that they had every reason to. She couldn't keep doing that. She could acknowledge her shortcomings and apologize for her mistakes, but she wasn't going to continue to let herself feel like she didn't have the right to go after the things she wanted or that she didn't deserve to have them. The only thing her fears had done was cause her to lash out and blame everyone else for her own choices, terrified that she actually wasn't good enough and trying to convince herself otherwise. But she wasn't going to let her fears continue to control her.

She'd always refused to put herself second because she'd let herself fear that no one else would ever put her first, so at least someone should. And maybe there were times when she _should_ put herself first, but she was seeing that there were more times when she shouldn't. So much of the way she thought about things was selfish, and she wanted to change that, own her mistakes, and make things right.

But, for now, before she made any attempt to get what she wanted - renewed friendship with her best friend and whatever she could salvage with Caleb - she would wait. Because even if it was perfectly acceptable for her to want those things, she wasn't the only person to consider, and she was determined to stop thinking of herself first, and maybe put herself second for a change.

* * *

**A/N: I know I promised this a lot sooner, but the process of moving has completely taken over my life! Finally managed a final read through of this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it! Lots of talking, I know, but digging into these characters! I'll be updating Leap of Faith next but not sure when. Also, even though I've been focused on moving, I've still had ideas coming to me! Hopefully you will hear a little more from me once I'm all settled.**

**Also, if you want a refresher on how Louis felt about the whole Caleb/Lily and Jill during Easter situation, thats chapter 19 in Snapshots!**


	6. Can't Hurry Love

**A/N: It's been a loooong time for this one. I have lots of ideas and plans for it, but it's also reliant on another story. Or they're reliant on each other. So it will be a bit sporadic as far as updates go. Anyway, this chapter brings us to two new POVs! I'm actually not sure how many I will flip between, but I'm going to try not to go overboard. I think the only other one that might creep in is Caleb, but I haven't written from his perspective yet. **

**Hope you enjoy this and please leave a review if you do! Or if you don't. I love hearing either way. Which actually brings me to comment on a guest review I had.**

**I know that being family doesn't require you to be friends. But where these characters come from and how they grew up, that's what they are, and that's my creative choice as the writer. I came from a very close family and regard a lot of my cousins as practically siblings and close friends. It happens. Everyone is obviously entitled to their own opinions and has their own experiences and I honestly welcome hearing about them, since it allows me to take a step back and see some things from a different perspective. And I hope you can accept my perspective as well. **

**Now, happy reading!**

* * *

Up, or down?

It was a question that Lucy Weasley had asked herself almost every day of her life. Well, at least since the day she'd started making her own decisions. And even before _she'd_ started asking herself the question, her mother had.

She'd inherited the Weasley hair, like many of her cousins had. They weren't all the same, though. For example, Rose's hair was more red than orange and she had the wild curls from her mother, while Lily had a deeper shade of red, just like _her_ mother, but it had always been gorgeously smooth. Lucy had never understood why she wore it so short. If she had hair like Lily's, she'd never cut it.

Molly's was more towards the orange end of the spectrum, but still fiery, and the way it fell in subtle waves down her back made it look like dancing flames.

And then, there was Lucy, whose hair was the epitome of ginger. She didn't get the striking red like her aunt. She was blessed with locks of hair that would allow her to blend in very well at a Chudley Cannons match. And to top it all off, there was nothing very special about it either. It wasn't sleek and straight, it wasn't soft and wavy, and even when she tried to style it, it wouldn't curl. It just fell the way it wanted to - a weird bump in the back, a flip on the left side that came and went, and a layer of frizzy hairs that made it look like she hadn't even brushed it. It wasn't thick. It wasn't thin. It just was.

And she hated her hair line. It wasn't smooth and clearly defined across her forehead, but more jagged, making her slightly rounded face appear a bit lopsided, at least in her opinion. It also made it very difficult to have a fringe, so covering it wasn't an option either. She knew her mother and sister would argue and assure her that she always looked lovely and was even pretty, but Lucy had never really felt that way. Not without quite a bit of effort.

So the question of up or down was one she faced every morning. If she kept it down, the wave and the flip and the frizz would be left to do their thing, but up meant you were more exposed to the hairline that couldn't make up its mind about which direction it wanted to go.

With a defeated sigh and a glance at her clock, Lucy picked up the mustard yellow scrunchie that was usually found either around her wrist or holding back her hair. Running her fingers through it to smooth out the kinks, she piled the ginger locks onto the top of her head, twisting the scrunchie around her hair until it sat in an untidy bun. She supposed she could try and make it look a bit more put together, but didn't see much of a point. She wasn't really trying to impress anyone. If Bobby Finnigan didn't like her for who she was, she wasn't planning on changing. It wasn't like she could anyway. Magic wasn't quite that magical.

Still, she didn't want to look like she didn't care. Presentable was something she always tried to achieve. So she took a minute to put on the lightest touch of makeup - a bit of mascara and a bit of color on her freckled face - and examine the simple outfit she'd thrown on after her shower. She nodded in satisfaction. A pair of denim shorts and a Wheezes T-shirt were perfectly acceptable for going over to a friend's house to help them watch their younger siblings. Even if that friend was a boy you might have a bit of a crush on.

She wasn't expecting anything to happen between them. Not yet, anyway. They'd grown closer throughout their fifth year, their time spent studying for their O.W.L.s and avoiding the majority of the drama that surrounded their friends. Lucy's usual curious nature that would have normally had her right in the thick of what was going on had been dampened by the constant and solid friendship she had with Bobby. Time spent with him was much more peaceful and fulfilling than days spent listening to Lily drone on about her relationship or how Hugo was being immature. Same went for the times Hugo complained about Lily. Charlotte wasn't too bad, but she'd gotten herself caught up in a boy as well, and the ups and downs of that were difficult to keep up with.

Lucy had felt a bit guilty when she'd started avoiding her cousins and friend, but if they were going to occupy themselves with other people, then so could she. And Bobby seemed to have the same idea.

And if all that wasn't enough, the trainwreck that was the family Quidditch match the week before did nothing but affirm her decision to stay well clear of the drama, even if she did feel a bit guilty for being so absent.

It was a Saturday morning, so both of her parents and her sister were in the kitchen when she went downstairs for breakfast. Her father was sitting at the kitchen table while her sister whisked eggs and her mother chopped vegetables.

"Omelets this morning!" Lucy's mother said cheerfully, waving her wand so a knife began chopping a pepper. Lucy smiled as she walked over to the breakfast table to pick up the front page of _The Prophet_, which her father had already discarded as he read through another section.

"Anything interesting?" asked Lucy, discarding the front page after seeing yet another headline about the ongoing trade conflict between Spain and the U.S. and looking over her father's shoulder instead.

"Not much," he said with a shrug, his eyes squinting behind horn rimmed glasses as he turned the page. "There was a short article about some Floo network malfunctions yesterday, which is only interesting because Hermione said it happened to Rose."

Lucy gave a hum of acknowledgement, her attention landing on an article in the section her father was holding about developments made in the area of molecular transfiguration. She reached out and held onto the edge of the paper, slowly pulling it out of her father's hands as she began to read.

"Don't mind me, I was done," her father said, his sarcastic tone betraying the inaccuracy of his words as she joined him in sitting at the kitchen table.

She tuned out the conversation that began to carry on around her, losing herself in the intricacies laid out in the article. Lucy had always loved transfiguration, and she'd been fascinated by the Muggle science book her aunt Hermione had given her for Christmas last year. Seeing the Magical community take strides to understand it and even experiment with how magic could be taken to a deeper and more precise biological level fascinated her.

Lucy let herself get immersed in the article, not really paying attention to the conversation going on around her. She'd finished it and moved on to another article by the time Molly grabbed her attention again. Her sister was standing in the doorway and jerked her head behind her before informing Lucy she had a visitor.

Curious, seeing as her plans were to meet Bobby at his house in fifteen minutes, Lucy made her way past her sister and down the hall before turning into the sitting room. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw her guest.

"Hi," Lily said tentatively, giving her cousin an awkward wave as she stood in front of the fireplace she'd just come through.

"Hi," said Lucy, hesitant at Lily's sudden appearance. She crossed her arms and watched her cousin curiously, taking her in.

Lily looked rough. There was no other way to put it. Her usually gorgeous hair that Lucy had always been envious of hadn't been washed in a few days and didn't have its normal shine. And while Lily had never been one to care too much about fashion, she was always well put together, even putting a bit of effort into looking effortless. It was obvious that she hadn't even tried at all. Lucy had to wonder when the last time was that she had.

Neither of them said anything else at first, Lily glancing around the room nervously and her hands fidgeting as she clasped them in front of her. Lucy didn't know where to begin a conversation. They hadn't had one since the day Caleb had broken up with her. Lily had been over before going to see Caleb, and based on the conversation Lucy had had with her, she understood why Lily had kept her distance since then. She'd been particularly arrogant about her supposedly untouchable relationship that day, only for it to fall apart an hour later.

"Have you had breakfast?" Lucy finally managed to ask.

"I'm fine," said Lily, only meeting Lucy's eyes temporarily as she responded before her attention focused in on her overactive hands. Lucy sighed, continuing to stand just inside the sitting room and watching her cousin expectantly. Finally, in a slightly shaky voice, Lily spoke.

"I know I've been… well, I've been a lot of things lately," she said a bit dejectedly. "But I've been a horrible friend to everyone, including you. And I'm sorry."

Lily looked at her nervously, obviously unsure of what her reception would be. Lucy was surprised to find that she didn't have to take much time to consider what her response would be, and gave her cousin a small smile.

"You're forgiven," she said simply. But, apparently, this was a little more than Lily could handle. Lucy watched in shock as Lily's eyes welled with tears before she broke down into sobs.

"I'm - 'm sorry," Lily said through her tears. She wiped at her eyes and sniffed loudly. "I've been a mess all week."

"It's all right," said Lucy reassuringly, finally moving forward to sit down on the couch. Lily seemed to take this as a sign that she was actually welcome, and she relaxed a bit as she sat with her cousin.

"I just… I can't seem to figure out how to fix any of this. Things are a mess, Luce. And I've been trying to come up with a plan to make everything right, and I realized nothing could actually get any better until I started apologizing, and I didn't… I honestly wasn't expecting to be forgiven so quickly. By anyone."

She shed a few more tears, and Lucy reached out to hold her hand. Lily gave her a grateful smile.

"I saw how rough things were last week," said Lucy, "and I started to feel a bit bad about keeping my distance. I knew how much of a mess everything was and I just didn't want to deal with all of it. Took me a bit to realize how much that ended up leaving you on your own."

Another tear escaped Lily, which she quickly wiped away as she squeezed Lucy's hand. "It's fine. I suppose I did it to myself. Distanced myself from everyone and gave you every reason not to want to be around."

"Maybe," Lucy allowed, "but I at least could have said something instead of just ignoring it all."

Lily shook her head dismissively. "Doesn't matter now. I'm focused on moving past all of this and getting things back to the way they're supposed to be."

She had a look of determination on her face, and Lucy was glad to see a bit of the old Lily back. But she knew things weren't going to be as simple as Lily might be making them out to be.

"And how are things supposed to be?" Lucy asked. "I mean, are you trying to just move on and forget everything and hope that everyone can act like it never happened?"

Lily let out a sigh and slouched back against the couch. "No. I want things to be even better than they were before. I just have no clue how to get there and no idea what that looks like. And I know I'm going to have to accept the fact that things being better might not include me being with…"

A few tears threatened to escape as she seemed unable to say Caleb's name, but Lily was quick to brush them away.

"You're gonna be okay," said Lucy, feeling proud of the strength and maturity her cousin was showing. Lily had always been that way, but she wasn't the first person to allow emotions and selfish desires to cloud their judgment. "And you're making some good first steps," she assured Lily, who gave her a grateful smile.

"Thanks. Any advice on what my next one should be?"

Lucy thought about it for a moment before glancing at the clock and making a suggestion. "How about another stop on the apology train?"

They were flooing to the Finnigan's a few minutes later, Lily a bit more calm than she had been on her arrival at Lucy's. She was still nervous. Bobby was one of Hugo's best friends and had stuck by him at the initial breaking point. As far as Lucy knew, however, Bobby hadn't seen much of Hugo over the summer, if he'd really seen him at all.

A sense of calm fell over Lucy as they stepped out into her friend's sitting room. She'd always loved being at the Finnigans'. It was always so put together but still felt welcoming and comfortable. And the sound of children playing always made a place feel a bit warmer.

"That you, Luce?" they heard Bobby holler over the sound of rambunctious children, his voice coming from the direction of the top of the stairs that led to the second floor.

"Yep!" Lucy hollered back, casting an uncertain glance at her cousin. "And - er - Lily's here too."

They heard no response from Bobby, only the continued shouts and giggles from his younger siblings. The level of noise carrying downstairs lessened as they heard a door close, followed by the sound of footsteps down the hall and then the stairs.

Lucy felt her stomach take the familiar dip it always did whenever she saw Bobby Finnigan. His sandy blonde hair had grown out a bit towards the end of the school year, but his mother had since cut it shorter. And, thanks to Lavender's very good eye when it came to trends and fashion, Bobby's hair always seemed to be perfect. Lucy had failed on many occasions to not be jealous of how effortlessly it seemed to lay on his head.

He stopped when he reached the bottom of the stairs, giving Lucy a small smile before glancing uncertainly between her and Lily.

"What's up?" he finally asked, his eyes settling on Lucy. Before she had a chance to respond, however, Lily let out a soft sob and was striding towards him. Bobby only had a moment to look a bit startled before Lily was hugging him tightly, apology after apology falling from her lips. Bobby's expression softened as he gently returned her embrace, patting her on the back and assuring her that everything was all right.

She eventually calmed down, and Bobby led them into the kitchen, Lily continuing to apologize for the mess she'd caused.

"Seriously, Lily, it's all right," Bobby said for about the fifth time as he grabbed a pitcher of pumpkin juice from the fridge. "I mean, everything isn't all right, obviously, but I don't really need much of an apology. It's kind of shit what happened, but I honestly don't blame you anymore than I do Hugo or Caleb."

"Really?" asked Lily, sounding relieved and surprised as she sank into one of the kitchen chairs.

"Absolutely," said Bobby very matter-of-factly as he and Lucy joined Lily at the table. "I saw how poorly Hugo was handling everything for months. A lot of this could have been avoided if he'd just talked to you ages ago."

The beginnings of an arrogant smirk crossed Lily's face, but Bobby was quick to wipe it away with his next words. "It also could've been avoided if you hadn't been so selfish in the first place. Or if you'd at least attempted to understand where he was coming from."

Lily slumped back in her chair and folded her arms, her face pinched with frustration and regret. "I think I understand now. Or at least I'm beginning to. I'm just having a hard time with the fact that he and - that they both seem fine while I still feel fucking miserable."

Bobby gave an uncertain shrug, accepting Lily's refusal to say Caleb's name. "I can't really speak to that seeing as I haven't really spent any time with them this summer. The two of them and Louis have sort of been doing their own thing."

Lucy's heart broke a little at having this truth confirmed. Especially seeing the bit of hurt that was betrayed by Bobby's eyes. He'd always had some of the most expressive eyes she'd ever seen, the brilliant bright blue unable to tell a lie. He missed his friends, no matter how much he'd enjoyed spending time with her over the summer, he still missed the other boys.

"I sort of figured that," Lily said softly. "I um… got a bit of a talking to from Lou, actually."

Lucy looked at Lily with wide eyes. "Really? Since when does he actually confront issues?"

Bobby stifled a laugh, and Lily had to hide a smile as well. "I sort of forced him into it, but I think it was good for both of us. It got me here, at least."

"Here's a good place to start," said Bobby. "What d'you plan to do next?"

Lily sighed and gave a shrug. "That's the _really _difficult part."

"Talk to Caleb and Hugo?" asked Lucy. But Lily shook her head.

"Nope. If the last few times I tried talking to either of them are anything to go by, I need to give it time. That's what Lou thinks I should do and I actually agree with him. It'll be bloody fucking difficult to keep my distance, but not only are they probably nowhere near ready to forgive me yet, I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to being okay with everything. I can't promise I wouldn't lose my cool and start yelling at them again right now. It's all still too fresh, you know? I have to get over a few things first. And myself."

She fell silent and stared off into the distance, her expression somber and her mind obviously full to bursting with the task of processing everything that had happened the past few months. Lucy shared a glance with Bobby, neither able to think of anything to say, seeing as they couldn't argue, but agreeing just seemed tactless.

After hanging around for another five minutes or so and making promises to both Lucy and Bobby that she'd be a better friend, Lily went home. Bobby collapsed onto the couch with a heavy sigh as soon as she was gone.

"I wasn't expecting that to happen today," he commented as Lucy joined him. "Or anytime soon."

Lucy gave him a small smile. "I was pretty surprised when she showed up. I thought she'd be a bit more stubborn and hold out a little longer. Maybe even till we went back to school."

Bobby gave an amused snort of laughter. "I wouldn't have been surprised, honestly."

Lucy nodded, unsure what else to say. She had tried not to let everything that had taken place over the past few months really affect her. If she had, it would've been excruciating to go through at times. It had been quick and easy to forgive Lily, but she'd been hurt. And now that it was all starting to be put behind them, she was starting to realize just how much. Her emotions were all coming to the surface. Her head was pounding and her breathing was growing shallow. Her eyes stung with tears.

"Hey," she heard Bobby's voice break through the buzzing in her head. "Lucy, what's wrong?"

She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around her waist, forcing herself to calm down. Or at least trying to. When Bobby reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder, she gave a startled jerk, but that didn't deter him. Soon his arm was around her shoulder and he was pulling her into his side as she began to sob.

* * *

Bobby had no clue what he was doing. Every time he'd seen his mother cry, it was either Violet or his dad that took on the job of comforting her. And Violet always had their mum or one of her friends. Bella and Layla were different. They were kids and would simply need to be held and told everything was going to be okay. Just like he'd done with Lily. In all of those situations, it was obvious what was wrong and what role he was required to fill.

But not only had he never seen Lucy cry, he had no idea why it was even happening now.

Holding her seemed to be working. She was leaning into him and her tears - while they'd picked up at first - were now calming down. He settled for rubbing his hand up and down her arm and waiting for her to tell him what was wrong. And doing his best not to enjoy the fact that he had an excuse to hold her.

Eventually, when all she was doing was leaning against him and letting out the occasional sniff, she finally found her voice.

"I didn't realize how much everything that had happened was bothering me," she said, her voice timid and almost ashamed.

"In what way?" he asked, doing his best to sound encouraging. If there was one thing his mother had driven home in his brain, it was that expressing your emotions was something you should never apologize for when done in a healthy way. And Lucy had obviously been holding hers in for far too long.

"I sort of felt a bit forgotten, I guess," she admitted. "By her and Hugo and even Charlotte at times. I know I sort of removed myself from everything, so part of it was my own doing, but it didn't seem like they cared. At all."

"They do," he told her, knowing she knew but needed the reminder all the same. "Lily wouldn't have made the effort she did today if she didn't."

"I know," said Lucy, before - much to Bobby's disappointment - sitting back up so she could meet his eyes. He held back a smile, however, when she didn't pull back completely, meaning he could keep his arm around her. "And it's helped to not have _all_ my friendships falling by the wayside at once, so thanks for sticking around."

Bobby returned the soft smile she gave him. "Didn't really have any other choice."

He realized how poorly he'd expressed himself when her face fell a moment later.

"No!" he said quickly, wide eyed and trying not to panic as she pulled slightly away. "I meant that there was no other choice I _wanted _to make, you know? I felt like I had no choice because I couldn't imagine making another one. Does that make sense?"

His panic started to ebb a moment later when her smile returned, this time accompanied by a slight coloring of her cheeks. "Yes, that makes sense."

Bobby smiled at her in relief, realizing that - even though she'd moved further away - she wasn't far. She was very close, in fact. And he'd been contemplating taking this steady and solid friendship a step further for a while now. It just never felt like the right time. Was _now _the right time? Their proximity was certainly in his favor. So was the fact that she was holding his gaze. She wasn't moving away either. And they were entirely-

"Bubby?"

Bobby really did his absolute best not to sigh in disappointment as he drew his arm away from Lucy and turned to face his youngest sister. She was standing and leaning against the arm of the couch, looking at him curiously.

"What's up, Layla?" he asked, the reminder that his siblings were in the house helping to quell his desire to see where things could have gone with the girl sitting next to him on the couch. The six-year-old came around to crawl up onto the cushion next to him, plopping down so she fit right against his side.

"Sean and Ian won't let me play with them," she informed her older brother, pouting slightly as she said it.

"What about Bella?" he asked.

"She's _reading,"_ Layla said with a roll of her eyes, as if it was the most preposterous thing she'd ever heard. Her attention then turned to Lucy, and she rose up onto her knees, still leaning completely against her older brother. "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing," Bobby said quickly and guiltily, only to realize too late that not only did his younger sister have no clue what he'd been planning to do before she interrupted, but she was most definitely going to use his answer to her advantage. The eager gleam in her eyes spoke volumes.

He grimaced apologetically at Lucy as Layla began listing all the things they could do together, but Lucy just smiled at him before telling Layla that coloring sounded like a fantastic idea.

"It's fine," Lucy assured him in an undertone as Layla ran off to get their supplies. "I came over to help you out after all."

"I know," Bobby said as they stood to move to the kitchen table. "But I'm eventually going to have to stop pretending that I only appreciate you for being a good side kick when it comes to babysitting."

It wasn't much, but it was something, and he was glad he'd actually been bold enough to make even a comment as vague as that one when she blushed, smiled, and then sat a little closer than strictly necessary when they joined his sister in the kitchen.


	7. Down On The Corner

**A/N: Just a reminder that this story is a bit behind where Leap of Faith is timeline wise, so still a few weeks left in the summer. I'd like to get to the point where they're pretty even and I'm working on that. But, hey! Two updates on two stories in two days! Enjoy and please review and you might get things like that more often!**

* * *

"Wait, does that mean you're quitting?" Louis asked his sister. Dom shook her head, her long, strawberry blonde ponytail whipping back and forth as she worked to contain a grin.

"I should have time to do both, and I'm hoping Hannah will still let me use the kitchen. I bake in there all the time anyway."

"That's brilliant," said Hugo. "We still get free samples though, right?"

Dom rolled her eyes but grinned at her cousin. "I suppose I'll need taste testers every now and then."

Hugo and Louis shared twin grins of triumph.

"That really is amazing," Louis told his sister, going back to munching on his plate of chips again. "When does this all start?"

"Well," Dom said with a sigh, showing her first lack of excitement since she'd told Hugo and Louis about her new endeavour, "I still have to check with Hannah, though she's the one who put me in touch with Lucinda, so I'm hoping she's fine with it."

"How could she not be?" Louis said through a mouthful of potato. "You're a fantastic baker. No way is she going to just not let you."

Dom gave her brother an amused smile and handed him a napkin. "Thanks, but you never know. She's started to rely on me quite a bit lately. She's been busier than normal with the business side of things."

Hugo nodded, taking another biscuit off the plate Dom had brought out to them when they'd finished their lunch. It had become a bit of a routine throughout the summer for him to have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron a few times a week, usually accompanied by a friend or cousin. He'd noted how smoothly things were running and that Dom was doing most of the running of things. He'd hardly seen Hannah tending to customers all summer, and she could usually be found either in the upstairs flat or at one of the tables in the pub with books and parchment spread around her.

And now that Dom had been offered an opportunity to sell her bakes in a local bakery, he actually wondered how well Hannah would take it.

"So," said Dom after a few moments of silent eating, "how're things going?"

She asked the question entirely too innocently as she glanced between her brother and cousin. Hugo narrowed his eyes at her. "Things are fine, thanks."

Louis gave an amused snort, taking a moment to swallow his food before saying, "He's in denial."

"Am not."

"About what?" Dom asked with a chuckle. Neither she nor Louis were paying Hugo any mind.

"That's he's sick of all this shit and just wants it to be behind us," he said matter-of-factly.

Dom shrugged and looked at Hugo. "Sounds easy enough."

"It bloody well isn't," he said with a roll of his eyes. "I might be sick of the shit, but I've done just about everything I can to fix things aside from just swallowing my pride and letting Lily have her way. And I'm not about to do that."

Dom cocked her head to the side and looked at him curiously. "Why not?"

Hugo's eyes widened. "You're joking. That's the last thing she needs."

"And who says you know what she needs?" Dom challenged.

Hugo let out a sigh. "Look, I think I know her well enough to know that it would be a horrible idea to just roll over and let Lily be right. Especially in this instance."

Dom shrugged, not looking entirely convinced as she grabbed a biscuit. "Suit yourself. I've just recently discovered that admitting when you're wrong doesn't have the worst consequences in the world."

"See, that's not what my problem is," Hugo argued. "I know I've been wrong a lot through this whole thing. Lily is the one who won't admit that I'm not the only one who's wrong."

At Hugo's words, Louis snorted into his butterbeer, causing his cousin and sister to look at him curiously. His eyes widened in panic as he set down his glass before assuming an innocent look. Hugo eyed him shrewdly.

"What do you know, Lou?" he asked, fixing his cousin with a look of suspicion.

"I know a lot of things," Louis said with a shrug. "I _am_ trying to become a Healer, you know."

"Oh, fuck off, you know that's not what I meant," Hugo said with a roll of his eyes. "Did Lily say something to you?"

Louis looked between his curious sister and determined cousin before holding his hands up in defense. "Look, I think this family works much better when we don't all go around spilling each other's secrets, don't you?"

A burst of laughter escaped Dom. "Honestly, it's when we don't tell each other things that it all gets really messed up." She stood from the booth as Hannah walked back in from her lunch break. "Hope you sort your shit out, Hugh."

As soon as she was gone, Hugo focused in on Louis, who was still attempting to look innocent, but now also appeared slightly conflicted.

"Look, if there's something that would be helpful for me to know..." Hugo reasoned, trailing off and watching his cousin expectantly. Louis occupied himself with his butterbeer, his eyes refusing to meet Hugo's as he seemed to fight internally with himself. Eventually, he set down his butterbeer and let out a long sigh before looking at Hugo.

"We talked," he said with a shrug. "The day of the Quidditch match."

Hugo's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean 'talked'?"

Louis hesitated, his lips pressed thinly together before saying, "We had an actual conversation about everything, and it didn't end in either of us yelling or storming off."

"You fucking serious?" Hugo snapped at him, suddenly growing angry. Lily had been horrible that day, and Louis had actually indulged her? "That was almost three weeks ago! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Look, I'm sorry if that's like… some sort of betrayal," Louis said with a roll of his eye, obviously not taking Hugo's anger seriously, "but she's my cousin too, you know? And this whole thing has been screwed up enough by people not talking to each other."

Hugo nodded, feeling slightly ashamed of his response and still a bit shocked by Louis' revelation. "All right, fine," he conceded. "So, what did you talk about?"

"A lot of things," said Louis. "And I'm not telling you everything, but I will tell you that you're wrong. She _does _know she messed up. And she wants to fix things. But I think we all know it won't be that simple, and I told her to give you a little bit of space first. Caleb too. She's got a lot to sort out."

Hugo nodded, thankful that at least one of them had finally seemed to turn the corner and was now handling the situation maturely. He'd never been more thankful for Louis, actually.

"So, I need to wait for her to come to me, you think?" Hugo asked. He really did want everything to be fixed and behind them, so much so, that he was actually occasionally considering being the one to make the first move towards fixing things.

"Probably best," said Louis with a shrug. He finished off his butterbeer before nudging Hugo out of the booth. "Although, it probably wouldn't hurt if you stopped glaring at her every time you saw her."

Hugo grimaced and nodded. "Yeah, probably a good idea. How long before you think she'll-"

"WHAT?!"

Dom's shriek carried through the pub, causing the remaining lunch customers to fall silent. Hugo and Louis whirled around to see Dom standing at the bar across from Hannah, who was glancing nervously around the room.

"You can't be serious," Dom continued, her voice still carrying even as Hannah gestured for her to keep it down. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Hannah looked uncertainly towards Hugo and Louis before turning to Dom and coming to the conclusion that this wasn't going to be a private conversation. "Nothing will really change for another few months, and it's not even a done deal yet, so I didn't want to tell you if it all came to nothing. But with this new development of yours..."

Hannah trailed off uncertainly. Hugo glanced questioningly at Louis, but both seemed to be equally in the dark. For her part, Dominique seemed to be at a loss for words. She was staring at Hannah, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to come up with a way to respond. It was the landlady who finally made the next move, turning to walk back into the kitchen and signalling for Dom to follow her.

"Any guesses?" Hugo asked as the patrons in the Leaky Cauldron began to talk amongst themselves once again. Louis shook his head as they made their way out into Diagon Alley.

"Probably business or staff related. Come on, I'm out of broom polish."

They wandered over to Quality Quidditch Supplies before making a stop in at Flourish and Blotts, both of them needing to grab a few last minute things before they went back to Hogwarts.

"We still have a few weeks, you know," Louis said impatiently. "You can always come back later."

"Just shut up and give me a minute," said Hugo, not even sparing his cousin a glance as he continued his perusal of the most recent few issues of Martin the Mad Muggle comic books. He blamed his dad for his love and appreciation for them. The older versions were a little ridiculous, but the more recent ones were not only actually very clever, but they told well thought out stories.

He set down the most recent issue to pick up the one from the month before, turning it around to read the back. And it was the first time he noticed who was responsible for publishing the comic.

"Hey, look!" Hugo said excitedly. "It says Bobbin Books is the publisher. That's where Rose works!"

He was fully expecting his cousin - who didn't like to admit that he actually enjoyed the comics himself - to join him in his surprise at this new information. But he got nothing. Hugo glanced in the direction Louis had been standing only moments ago, seeing that he was, in fact, still there. His attention, however, was completely focused somewhere off in the distance. Turning so he could see what was so enthralling that Louis seemed completely incapable of movement, Hugo soon realized that whatever had caught his cousin's attention was outside. He had to tilt his head a bit to be able to see out the window, but a smirk broke out across his face as soon as he saw what was so intriguing. Or rather, who.

"Mate, just go talk to her," Hugo said with a roll of his eyes, turning to peruse the comics once again. "I thought you'd made up your mind to ask her out?"

The question seemed to snap Louis out of his daze. "I did," he said a bit impatiently.

"So do it!"

"I _did!"_

Hugo turned to look at his cousin with wide eyes. His attention was still on the girl across the street, and he seemed torn between frustration and embarrassment.

"What? When?"

"Right before I got called away to talk to Lily," he said with a roll of his eyes, crossing his arms as frustration seemed to settle in. "I'd just managed to do it when Freddie came up to me and said she was asking for me and wouldn't come out of the bathroom."

Hugo gave a snort of amusement and finally settled on just going ahead and getting both issues he'd been looking at. "Ruining your moment with the girl you fancy just seems par for the course for Lily right now."

"Shut up," Louis said with a groan. "I really am sick of all that shit. It was pretty rubbish timing, though."

"So?" Hugo asked as they headed up to the counter to make their purchases. "What'd she say?"

Louis let out a sigh. "That's the most frustrating part. I'd literally _just _asked her when Fred interrupted. She didn't have time to answer."

Hugo let out a low whistle, imagining how rotten that must've felt in the moment. "That really is some rubbish timing, mate. Any clue what she was going to say?"

"No idea," Louis said with a sigh. "And now I'm fucking terrified to talk to her again. What if she says no? Or what if she was about to say yes and now she's had time to think about it and realize it's a horrible idea?"

"Nah, mate," Hugo said bracingly as they made their way to the front of the store. "I'm not too bright when it comes to girls, but I'm pretty sure that one-" he nodded towards the girl still across the street at the ice cream shop as they paused behind the glass door "-barely does anything besides give all of her attention to you whenever you're around."

They continued to stand there in silence, Louis appearing to be contemplating his options and Hugo observing the rest of the street. He couldn't help but smirk when his eyes landed on another familiar face.

"I'm also pretty sure Daniel Creevy had a thing for her towards the end of the year, but you and Jill were both so busy paying attention to each other that you never noticed."

Louis gave an unamused snort, his attention still focused on Jill. "Trust me, I noticed."

Hugo grinned. "Did you also notice that he's heading towards Fortescue's at this very moment? Where the very girl you're arse over tits for is currently spending her Wednesday afternoon?"

It was far too amusing to watch Louis open his eyes comically wide, frantically look up and down the street, and then burst through the door with a hurried "fuck" uttered under his breath, dropping his bag of recent purchases as he went. Hugo was struggling to hold back a laugh as he stepped through the door behind him.

This was going to be highly entertaining.

He watched it all play out from across the street with a bit too much joy. Daniel Creevy noticed Louis making his way through the crowd and towards Jill. She was sitting with a girl with short brown hair that Hugo recognized as a fellow Ravenclaw in her year. Jill's back was towards Louis, so she noticed Daniel first and sent him a small wave as the Gryffindor quickened his pace. This just caused Louis to do the same, not even caring that he was bumping into people as he crossed the crowded street. Jill's companion spotted him, though, and she was quick to widen her eyes and tap repeatedly on Jill's arm to grab her attention.

But Daniel had reached their table. Just as Jill glanced over her shoulder to see Louis, who was still a few feet away.

Hugo grinned in triumph to see the excitement, fear, and delight overcome Jill's face, even if it was only for a split second. Her attention was pulled quickly away by Daniel announcing his presence. Pausing briefly to grab his cousin's discarded items, Hugo began to make his own way through the crowd as Louis finally reached the table, stopping behind Jill and no doubt glaring daggers at Daniel Creevy, who was having trouble not fidgeting as he avoided Louis' stare and attempted to talk to Jill.

"-been having a good holiday?" Hugo caught Daniel saying as he stopped just behind Louis.

"It's been lovely," said Jill, who'd definitely picked up on the obvious tension. She was keeping her focus on Daniel, no doubt trying not to be rude even though she was clearly fighting the urge to give Louis her full attention. Her body was twisted towards him even as she looked at Daniel.

"That's great!" Daniel said enthusiastically, obviously sensing he was in danger of losing her attention. "I know Caleb Wood's birthday party is tomorrow, but do you have any plans for Sunday?"

Jill looked at the eager boy in complete surprise, proving Hugo had been right. She hadn't noticed his attention last term.

"Oh," she eventually managed to get out. "Well, I-"

Her attention snapped to Louis as he made a show of grabbing a chair from the unoccupied table next to the two girls, placing it beside Jill, and sitting down. He leaned forward and rested his arms on the table, a warm smile on his face as he focused all of his attention on Jill. And Hugo was suddenly struck with the notion that his cousin had never been more attractive.

Wait, what? Why on earth would he ever be thinking that?

"Hi, Louis." Jill's voice pulled Hugo away from his confusion. She was looking at Louis with a ridiculous smile on her face, completely mesmerized by him. And then it all made sense.

Louis may have been only one eighth Veela, but it was enough to be able to turn on some magical charm when he wanted to.

Hugo had only ever seen him do it while trying to get out of trouble with a parent or teacher. Never once had he used it on a girl.

Shit. This wasn't good.

"Hey, Jill," Louis responded with a disarming smile. "I've missed you."

If possible, Jill melted even more into a puddle of giddy delight. Something Hugo hadn't seen her do since she…Oh. She _had _had a crush on James when they were younger! Hugo was a bit surprised he'd missed it, especially if this was the way she'd behaved back then.

It would be reasonable for Hugo to consider Jill's behaviour as a good sign. But he knew his cousin, and the one thing Louis had sworn he'd never do, was use any type of Veela magic to get the attention of a girl. Because if he truly was interested in her, he wanted to know that she liked him for him, and not because he'd tricked her into anything. Which - even though there'd been clues for a while now that Jill had genuine feelings for Louis - he would now be in danger of thinking was the case.

This was heading downhill fast.

"I thought we'd talked about this," Jill said flirtatiously. "You're more than welcome to write to me. Anytime."

Louis grinned at her. "I'll make sure to remember that from now on. What're you up to the rest of the day?"

Hugo watched in mild delight, but mostly horror, as Jill turned in her chair to face Louis even more fully, resting her elbow on the table and propping up her chin as she smiled brightly at him.

"Absolutely nothing."

Hugo grimaced and glanced at Daniel Creevy, who looked slightly crestfallen, but appeared to be accepting his defeat graciously. He turned to walk away with nothing more than a farewell nod to Jill's friend, who was either called Ruth or Ruby. There was one of each in Ravenclaw in Jill's year, and Hugo could never remember which was which.

Whoever she was, she didn't seem to mind that whatever plans she might've had with Jill were now completely derailed. In fact, she was practically beaming at the potential couple.

As tempting as it was to just let all this play out, Hugo came to the annoying realization that he was too good of a friend and cousin to let things go any further than they already had. Which meant he had to butt in, when he really didn't want to.

"Lou, wait," he said, trying his best not to look like he was lying through his teeth as he approached his cousin, who'd stood from his chair and was already helping Jill out of hers. "We promised your mum we'd help her out today, remember?"

Louis looked at Hugo in confusion, caught off guard and most likely having forgotten Hugo was even there at all. "What?"

"You know," Hugo continued, trying to communicate as subtly as possible that he was doing potential damage control, "she said she needed help - er - fixing the siding that's come loose on the house? And that she'd _regret it _if she didn't get us to help before we went back to school? I'd hate for anyone to have _regrets _about _anything, _wouldn't you?"

It was lucky for them that Jill still seemed to be completely caught up in Louis, who thankfully got the message Hugo was trying to send with his subtle words and rather obvious glances towards Jill. The remaining charisma surrounding him melted away as he looked at Hugo in horror, but he recovered himself enough to turn to a confused Jill, offer her a hurried apology and farewell, and then grab Hugo by the arm to drag him away.

"See you later!" Hugo hollered over his shoulder at Jill, who was looking a bit out of sorts and extremely confused. They were around the corner and far away from her in no time at all.

"Why the hell did you let me do that?" Louis snapped, stopping abruptly and turning to face Hugo with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face.

"Whoa, mate," said Hugo, his hands raised in innocence and confusion on his face. "I just saved your arse. How was I to know you were about to pull a stunt like that?"

"Shit," Louis said through clenched teeth, gripping his hair and beginning to pace in front of Hugo. "What if I just messed everything up?"

"No way," Hugo assured him. "She fancied you already anyway. I bet your magical charm didn't even work on her."

Louis shot a look at Hugo, who was smirking at him. "Oh, come on, loosen up," said Hugo. "I honestly believe she does like you, and any type of meddling your Veela magic could've done wouldn't even make a difference. I probably would've let things continue if it weren't for the fact that I know you wouldn't have believed any of it was real afterwards."

Louis let out a groan of frustration, burying his face in his hands and ceasing his pacing. "And I'm going to see her at Caleb's birthday party tomorrow night," he practically whined. "What the hell am I supposed to say to her?"

"I wouldn't even mention it if I were you," Hugo said with a shrug. "Except to maybe apologize for ditching her today. If it didn't really affect her like I think it didn't, she won't even realize anything else happened."

"Right," Louis said with a nod, seeming like he was trying to convince himself of Hugo's words. "I'll just play it cool and hope I haven't cocked it all up."

Hugo chuckled and began to walk down the street again, Louis falling into step beside him. "I mean, there's always the chance she falls for Creevy's charms instead."

He had to duck to avoid the swing that Louis took at him.

"Whatever," said Louis, a bit disgruntled as Hugo laughed and handed him back his sack of purchases. "At least I don't snog random birds for petty revenge."

This time, it was Louis who had to duck to avoid a blow to the head.

"Seriously, though," Louis continued with a chuckle as they made their way towards Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "Any idea how you're gonna handle the fallout from that?"

Hugo shrugged, hoping his cousin wouldn't notice the traitorous color his ears were turning. "Well, I _had _been hoping it wouldn't be an issue."

They continued down the street in silence for a few moments, Hugo studiously avoiding Louis' questioning look. With a sigh, he stopped at the entrance to the joke shop and faced his cousin, though avoided looking him directly in the eye.

"She owled me," Hugo admitted. "Last week."

At Louis' silence, Hugo chanced a glance at his cousin. It looked like it was taking everything in Louis to refrain from laughing in Hugo's face.

"I'm sorry," Louis managed to laugh out as Hugo turned with a scowl and flung open the shop door. "That's seriously unfortunate."

Hugo rolled his eyes but kept walking through the crowded store as his cousin followed, waving at Lysander when he saw them from the register.

"So, what'd she say?" asked Louis, undeterred as they wandered behind the counter while Lysander continued helping a customer.

"Something about being worried since she hadn't heard from me," he admitted begrudgingly, searching the shelves behind the counter. "And she asked if I'd be free to get together before term starts."

Louis let out a low whistle, joining Hugo in his search. "What'd you say?"

"Nothing," Hugo said with a shrug. "I had no bloody clue _what _to say to her."

"Girl trouble?" came Lysander's smug voice, accompanied by his arm draping around Hugo's shoulders. He shot the older boy a look as he and Louis paused in their search.

"He snogged the wrong one," Louis said with a smirk. Hugo aimed a kick at him.

"Ooh, rotten luck, mate," Lysander said with a grimace. "Only one way to fix that."

Hugo looked at him skeptically. "How's that?"

Lysander smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't do it again."

Louis gave a snort as Hugo glowered. "That doesn't actually fix my current situation, though, does it?"

Lysander looked contemplative for a moment before shrugging and saying, "Huh, guess you're right. Suppose you can't really fix things."

Laughter erupted behind the counter from the other two boys as Hugo slugged his father's employee in the arm, continuing to scowl.

"Like I'd take your advice anyway," he grumbled before gesturing towards Louis. "Didn't you almost blow it with his sister?"

This seemed to just roll off Lysander's back. "But I didn't, though," he said breezily. "And I actually snogged the right girl, so you probably _should _take my advice."

Resigning himself to the conversation, Hugo folded his arms and leaned against the shelves behind him. "Fine, I'll bite. How'd you know she was the right one?"

He wasn't even sure why he was asking this. It wasn't like there was a girl out there that he was considering snogging. Or that he thought might be right for him. But what could it hurt, really? Dom seemed happy. And so did Ly. He was actually beginning to think the older wizard might have something useful to say.

Until he shrugged and opened his mouth once again.

"Actually, I didn't really think it through before I snogged her," he admitted, sounding thoughtful rather than apologetic. Louis looked unimpressed.

"And then we just sort of carried on not thinking about it for a while," Lysander continued with a shrug. "But it never felt _wrong_, so I never really paused to think about whether or not it was right. I just knew it was. I suppose that's the way it is sometimes, and thinking about it too much just complicates things."

Well, maybe he wasn't as much of an idiot as Hugo had thought.

"Anyway," said Ly. "You're bound to snog a few wrong ones before you find the right one. Unless you're my brother, lucky bastard."

Hugo and Louis shared in a laugh with Lysander, who was pulled back to his duties by a customer a moment later. They turned back to the shelves once again, quickly realizing the object of their search wasn't there.

"Oi!" Hugo hollered at Lysander as he and Louis began to make their way back towards the offices and storeroom. "My dad in his office?"

Lysander nodded, only pulling his attention away from his customer to say, "And I'd knock if I were you!"

With a shrug of his shoulders and an amused look shared with Louis, Hugo led them further down the back hallway. He quickly rapped his knuckles on his dad's office door before letting himself in. The first thing he noticed upon doing so was the sound of laughter that was distinctly feminine, and the second was the sight of his mother sitting on his father's desk.

Hugo gave a start, Lysander advising him to knock and the casual position his mother was in causing him to assume the worst. But he let out a sigh of relief a moment later when his mother looked over her shoulder at him and he noted the cup of tea in her hands. His eyes then snapped to his father, who was sitting at his desk and in the middle of taking a bite out of a sandwich.

"Thank Merlin," he murmured, leaning against the door and smiling at his parents.

"Something wrong, dear?" his mother asked, setting down her cup of tea and gracefully hopping down off the desk.

"Nope," he assured her as she came over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Just came by to pick up the stuff for Caleb's birthday."

"Really?" his dad asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You looked like you'd seen a ghost for a second."

"It's nothing," Hugo said with a dismissive wave. "Just wasn't sure what you two were...anyway. The stuff wasn't outfront."

Smirking, his dad stood from his desk, making his way to a shelf in the corner and grabbing a box. "Don't worry," he said as he made his way towards his son and wife. "Unfortunately, your mum and I haven't fooled around in here in ages."

"Ron!"

Hugo groaned and rubbed at his eyes while his dad chuckled. "Not only do _I_ not want to hear that, but Louis is literally right behind me."

Ron grimaced and looked behind his son as he handed him the box. "Sorry, Lou."

"No worries," he heard Louis say with a chuckle. Cheeky bastard. He probably wouldn't think it was nearly as funny if it was his own parents.

"Do you need anything else for the party?" his mum asked, her cheeks a bit pink as she threw one last annoyed look at her unbothered husband.

"I think we're good," said Hugo. "Molly and Jill are taking care of drinks and Aunt Fleur is doing the snacks. I think that's all we need."

"Okay," said Hermione, and Hugo was about to say goodbye and head out. But then he noticed the look on his mother's face.

"Was there something else?" he asked, knowing it would probably be a better idea _not _to ask. But he couldn't help it when his mum looked like that, worry and uncertainty radiating off of her.

"I just...I was wondering…," she began haltingly. "Is Lily coming to the party tomorrow?"

He should've known that's what she would ask. His mum had been graciously silent when it came to his current relationship with Lily, but he knew she'd been dying to talk to him about it. And as much as he found himself actually _wanting _to talk to his mum, there was way too much to get into now. So he settled for a simple answer.

"No. She's not."

Hermione nodded, a touch of sorrow in her eyes as she affectionately stroked his arm, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek once more. "See you for dinner?"

Hugo nodded, wishing both of his parents farewell as he and Louis left.

"That's another reason for you to sort things out with Lily," Louis pointed out as they entered Diagon Alley once again. Hugo threw him a questioning look and he shrugged. "People will stop asking you about her."

Hugo couldn't help sighing and nodding in agreement. He was tired of arguing about it, tired of talking about it, done with feeling like he was supposed to hate her, and sick of missing her.

Was it enough to hope that she was at least starting to feel the same?


	8. Can't Fight This Feeling

Now would be the perfect time to do it. Get it over and done with and not have to worry the rest of the evening about what he'd inevitably say to her.

Louis was all too aware of the fact that Molly had just left Jill alone in the kitchen of Shell Cottage, where she was making punch for the party that would be starting any minute. He'd made himself busy with putting up the decorations he and Hugo had gotten from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes when she'd shown up, so he hadn't even so much as acknowledged her existence.

And it was killing him.

"Just go talk to her."

Molly's voice in his ear nearly had him jumping out of his skin and almost dropping the stereo speaker he'd brought down from his room.

"What?" he asked, trying to make it look like he hadn't just been blatantly staring at the door to the kitchen.

"You fancy Jill, right?" his cousin asked, a teasing smile playing around her lips even as she asked the question kindly. Knowing he couldn't and didn't even want to lie at this point, Louis nodded.

"Then just go talk to her," said Molly, gesturing towards the kitchen with an encouraging grin. Louis let out a sigh but smiled sheepishly down at his cousin.

"I kind of made a bit of a fool of myself yesterday," he admitted. "Makes me a little hesitant to get back in there."

Molly gave him an understanding smile and took the speaker from his hands. "I know it can be a little scary at the start of things, but it can definitely be worth it."

She said this with a glance across the room at Ethan, who'd come over early with Molly to help them set up. It was a bit strange for both Louis and Caleb to have their older sisters' best friend around more, now that he was dating Molly, but they'd both always liked Ethan. Not to mention he made Molly insanely happy, and Louis couldn't begrudge them any opportunity to spend time together before Molly had to go back to school.

"I'll finish with this," said Molly, indicating the speaker in her hands and making her way over to where Hugo was setting up the rest of the stereo. After taking a quick glance around the room, Louis noticed that everything else seemed to be ready.

Well, nothing really standing in his way now, was there?

With a fortifying intake of breath, Louis walked towards the kitchen, pushing the door open with purpose, only to be met with an unexpected sight.

"And in case you need more cups, zey are in 'ere," his mother was saying to Jill as she indicated a cabinet by the fridge.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," said Jill, looking a bit nervous but smiling brightly. "And thank you for letting us have the party here."

"Oh," his mother said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "C'est un plaisir, ma cheri."

Louis' brow rose in surprise. For reasons that had to do with far too many judgmental looks and comments in her younger years, his mother really only spoke French around non family members when she was either trying to be discreet in conversation, or felt very comfortable with the people around her. And if she was using it around Jill, he could only assume she really liked her.

Still, she wasn't exactly supposed to be there.

"Maman," he said with an exasperated sigh. "I thought you and Dad were going to be at Vic and Ted's tonight."

His mother laughed and shook her head at him. He tried his best to focus on her rather than the way Jill's head whipped around to look at him.

"Your papa is meeting me zer and I'm just leaving now," his mother said, grabbing a bottle of wine off the rack in the corner before approaching him. "'Ave fun, but don't destroy our 'ome."

Louis rolled his eyes as his mother kissed him on the cheek. "Bonne soiree, mon bébé," she said in parting as she walked out the back door. Louis grimaced as it shut behind her, but his eyes quickly moved to Jill as he heard her giggle.

It was difficult to keep from sighing in relief at finally being able to look at her. She'd worn her long brown hair straight and completely down, falling silkily past her shoulders. Her skin was a bit more tan from the summer sun, and it was hard to miss since she was wearing denim shorts and a white tank top. And even though he'd just seen her yesterday, the way she was leaning with her hip against the kitchen counter and her arms crossed while she looked at him in amusement felt like the best thing he'd seen in days.

"Am I off on my french, or did she just call you her _baby?"_ asked Jill, her lips twitching in amusement as Louis' face turned slightly pink.

"You know French?" he asked innocently, but she didn't buy his attempt to change the subject.

"I've picked up some from my aunt who lives in Paris, but you're so not getting out of answering my question," she said with a smirk and a pointed look. Louis couldn't help grinning at her.

"I tried to get her to stop calling me that," he said, shoving his hands in his jean's pockets and shrugging, "but, as she says, '_I'll always be her petit garçon.'_ Guess that's what I get for being the youngest."

Jill laughed, turning to tend to the half made punch on the counter once again. "Must be nice, though," she said, throwing a glance back at him over her shoulder as she worked to open a frozen can of juice. "Having siblings."

"It's all right," Louis said with a shrug, coming to stand next to her while she worked. "Sort of always wished one of my sisters was a brother, but I suppose I've got Teddy for that. And a slew of cousins."

Jill smiled at him, picking up a ladle to begin stirring in the juice. "You're all really lucky, you know?" she said, sounding a bit wistful, but not bitter. "All the siblings and cousins. I actually felt that way when my friendship with Molly wound up with me being so welcomed by her family. _Your _family, I guess," she corrected.

"I know," he said with a smirk, turning so he was leaning right next to her with his back against the counter. "We're pretty great."

Jill rolled her eyes but still chuckled at him. It was impossible not to grin back at her, but his smile started to fall away when she seemed to grow uncertain a moment later.

"Louis?" she began hesitantly, her eyes focused on the punch she was stirring. "About what-"

"I'm really sorry," he jumped in, doing his best not to panic as she looked up at him in surprise. "I acted like an idiot yesterday, and I never should've done it."

His original plan had been to take Hugo's advice and not fess up to what he'd done. But since she'd started to bring it up, he figured it would be easier to beat her to the punch with it than to have to answer whatever questions she had for him. When she looked at him in confusion, however, he started second guessing his decision. But he couldn't exactly take it back now.

"I mean…" he continued hesitantly, "It's not something I typically do. Only a couple times ever, actually. No clue what I was thinking, really. I've been warned against doing it pretty much for as long as I can remember, and I even saw it go horribly wrong for Dom once when she used it on this bloke at a restaurant so we could get seated quicker? Wouldn't leave us alone the rest of the night."

Louis gave an awkward chuckle and nervously scratched at the back of his neck. He'd really been hoping this would go better. Or at least that he would've been more cool about it.

"Wait," said Jill, pausing in her stirring and looking at him shrewdly. "I'm confused. What exactly..."

The moment it all clicked together in her brain was obvious. Her eyes widened and she stared at Louis, her mouth opening and closing as she failed to think of anything to say as her cheeks turned pink.

"I'm really sorry," he said, cringing as he looked away from her and down at the floor. "It was completely out of line, and I'd never, ever want you to feel like you were tricked into anything. Things have been… well, I feel like they've been all right. Between us, you know? And I know you didn't give me an answer about maybe… you know, going to Hogsmeade together sometime, but I just really hope I didn't ruin things, because I think you're pretty bloody amazing and the last thing I want is for you to think I'm trying to manipulate you or I'm not being genuine. Because I really fucking fancy you."

A weight fell off Louis' shoulders and he let out a deep sigh. He'd done it. He'd finally said it out loud. It wasn't until that moment that he realized he hadn't actually said it to anyone yet. Sure, he might not have done it with the most elegant words, but he'd done. The only thing left was for her to respond. And even though he felt a great sense of relief after telling her how he felt, he was beyond nervous as he waited for her to react.

She had to do something, right? Other than stand there and stare at him?

Louis was just on the verge of letting another stupid thing fly out of his mouth when Jill got hers open first.

"Yes."

His eyes snapped to hers, which looked both determined and nervous. While relieved that she'd actually broken her silence, Louis had no idea what she meant.

"Huh?" he asked, mentally kicking himself for how stupid he sounded.

"Yes, I'll go with you to Hogsmeade," she said softly. "That's actually what I was originally going to say, before you brought up…"

"Oh," said Louis, clearing his throat and cringing at the creak in his voice. He looked down at the floor again in an effort to hide the smile he couldn't contain. "Right. Well, that's… that's brilliant."

They stood there in an awkward moment of silence, but it was at least a bit more comfortable than it had been before.

"I fancy you too, you know," said Jill, practically blurting it out as if she'd had to work up the nerve to say it. Louis looked at her again, but she was picking up the ladle to stir the punch, her cheeks pink as she avoided looking at him. "So you don't have to do...whatever it was you did yesterday."

Louis awkwardly cleared his throat, turning around so they were standing shoulder to shoulder. He busied himself with slicing the lemons and limes on the counter as he thought of how to respond.

"Good to know."

Seriously? He couldn't come up with anything better than that?

"Before I get all giggly and giddy about this," Jill continued, pausing in her task to turn and smile up at him. "Can I ask why?"

"Why what?" he asked, unable to keep from grinning at her comment.

"Why you thought it was necessary to do that."

He'd been dreading this question, but she deserved an honest answer. So he let out a sigh and turned to face her as well.

"I didn't really think before I did it, actually," he admitted. "I just saw you sitting there and saw Creevy coming over and it was pretty obvious last term that he liked you. So I guess I kind of panicked. I didn't even really realize I was doing it, to be honest. It was just…"

He trailed off and shrugged his shoulders, but she was still looking at him expectantly, and he hadn't exactly answered her question.

"Look, I'm not really good at this," he confessed. "And I've never really fancied anyone before. And this might sound horrible, but I'm used to girls just kind of… being obvious and…"

He had to be blushing scarlet by now.

"And I've never exactly been that way with you, have I?" Jill said. It was more of a statement than a question, and Louis gave a shrug in agreement.

"Which is fine," he assured her. "It's not something I should use as an excuse either," he grumbled, looking down at the counter and fiddling with a still unsliced lemon. "And I really shouldn't have done what I did without knowing for sure how you felt. I shouldn't have done it no matter what. But I hope you know that I'd never force you into anything or manipulate you."

"You didn't," she assured him, and it was as if a shock went through him when she laid a soft hand on his arm. "And to be honest, I'm not entirely sure it made much of a difference. I think the only effect it had on me was to make me more bold," she admitted. "All the feelings it would've evoked were already there. It just gave me the courage or rather the inhibition to act on them."

Her words surprised him, realizing that Hugo might've been right in his assessment of the effect he could have on her. He knew it could happen. His mum's magical charm had never really worked on his dad, and hers was even stronger than Louis'. He knew he was grinning stupidly at Jill as she attempted to hide a grin and gave him a pointed look.

"All the same," she said, "it would be nice if you maybe didn't do that again."

Louis continued to grin as he nodded and said, "I won't. I promise."

"Good," said Jill. And then her hand was moving down his arm, and he opened his hand on instinct as hers reached his.

The door opening behind them had them jumping apart. Right as she'd been about to slide her fingers between his own.

"Caleb just got here," Hugo said, completely oblivious to what he'd just walked in on. "The punch ready?" he asked, moving to Jill's other side and peering over her shoulder.

"Almost," she said, sounding perfectly at ease as she nudged Hugo out of the way. "Louis here forgot he can do magic so he's been slicing fruit by hand, otherwise we'd be done already."

Louis looked at her, startled by her comment until he saw her smirking up at him, a mischievous yet slightly nervous look in her eyes. Either she didn't want Hugo knowing what had just happened, or she didn't want him intruding on their moment. Whichever it was, Louis felt the same. And he found it impossible not to play along.

"Oi! You could help, you know. Pretty sure that's plenty stirred by now."

Jill scoffed and rolled her eyes, pulling her wand and charming another knife to begin doing the slicing for her. She looked at Louis with a smug expression, and Hugo snorted in amusement.

"Just bring it out whenever you're done flirting," said Hugo. Louis just managed to shoot a glare at his knowing look as he left the room.

"I'm not even going to ask how much he knows," said Jill, scooping up the now sliced fruit and dumping it into the punch bowl. "But seeing as he was a witness to yesterday, I'm guessing quite a lot."

Louis gave an uncomfortable chuckle. "Yeah. He and Molly have both done their share of pep talks. Caleb too, actually."

This news seemed to surprise Jill, and she looked up at Louis with wide eyes. "So they all know?"

"Well…" Louis began uncertainly. "It's been a bit obvious for a while now that I fancy you. To everyone else, at least. It's not like I actually told them anything. You know what my family's like. Everyone butts into everyone else's business."

"True," Jill said with a chuckle. "So, if we go out there, are they all going to give us knowing looks and make suggestive comments and whatnot?"

Louis gave a groan and ran a hand over his face, knowing that her concerns were very well founded. "Hopefully not. But just know that anything they do say is complete speculation. No one actually knows anything concrete. And we can keep it that way for now, if you'd like."

Jill nodded and seemed to relax a bit, picking up the punchbowl and moving towards the door to the sitting room. But she stopped and looked back at him when she reached it.

"I'm really looking forward to it, you know," she said, grinning brightly at him. "Our date? And whatever comes after too."

A date. Wow. That was the first time either of them had said in no uncertain terms where this was headed. And Louis couldn't contain his grin.

"Me too."

* * *

Contrary to what those on the outside might believe, it really was easy to feel alone, even with an abundant amount of family members. Especially when you were estranged from the one you were closest to.

Lily had already known this was true, but the conversation she'd had with Louis, combined with her current reality, made her see it more clearly than ever. All her friends and most of her cousins were at her aunt and uncle's house. And they were throwing a party for her ex boyfriend.

It was safe to say it was the loneliest Lily had ever felt.

With a sorrowful sigh, she rolled onto her side before sitting up on her bed, determined not to mope and wallow. Lily had spent the last few weeks doing a lot of thinking and soul searching, along with trying to find ways to distract herself from the continued noted absence of her best friends. Which was hard to do when she knew they were all together. Without her.

But this would not become the new normal. Ever since her conversation with Louis, Lily had been determined to get to a place where she could fix this. She just needed to be humble and ask forgiveness, while also not dismissing everything Hugo had done.

He still had to take responsibility too. That was one thing she was firm on.

Sure, he'd pretty much apologized the last time they'd had a real conversation, but the way he was continuing to ignore her and not even try to fix things - all while spending his time with Caleb - wasn't earning him any points.

There she was being all stubborn again, but could she really be blamed for it? She'd always believed that you should stand up for yourself and not let people walk all over you. Wouldn't she be going against that if she just went to Hugo and begged for forgiveness without expecting him to admit a few wrongs in return?

With a sigh, Lily lay back down on the bed again, staring at the ceiling and letting her legs dangle over the side. Thinking things through over and over without a clear objective forming in her mind was growing tiresome. And she was running out of people who were likely to lend an ear. Not to mention a lot of the people she'd be inclined to talk to were unavailable. Since they were at some stupid party.

She wasn't sure if Al had gone to the party, and she didn't fancy going through the hassle of going to the Ministry just to check. It would be nice if he and Scorpius finally got a phone hooked up like they planned. James, she knew, was out with Violet doing something special for their first anniversary. As far as her family went, that left her three people, and she didn't feel like talking to her parents about this.

It would have to be Teddy.

With a resigned determination and an innate inability to sit still for long periods of time, Lily got off her bed and hurried quickly down the stairs, only pausing long enough to holler out where she was going and hoping her parents heard before grabbing Floo powder off the mantle. She didn't even pause to put shoes on before stepping into the green flames and letting herself be whisked away.

She stumbled through and brushed off the soot, glancing around and hoping her godbrother and cousin were home. The sound of talking and the clinking of dishwater coming from the kitchen had her sighing with relief, and she stumbled through the door without hesitation.

Whatever greeting she was about to give died on her tongue. She hadn't just interrupted Teddy and Victoire. She'd interrupted them while hosting Bill and Fleur.

They all paused to look at her in surprise as she entered, and Lily couldn't help feeling self conscious about the ratty t-shirt and gym shorts she wore. Even if they were all still family. She felt on display with her aunt looking at her in disapproval.

"Hey," said Teddy, breaking the slightly awkward silence and giving her a confused smile. "Everything okay?"

"Umm…," Lily began uncertainly, glancing between her curious aunt and uncle and surprisingly agitated yet concerned cousin. "It's...it's nothing," she said with a forced smile before turning back to Teddy. "I'll just...It's not important. It can wait."

She was about to turn around and head straight home and probably crawl right back in bed. But her aunt's next question had her stopping in her tracks.

"Why are you not at ze party?"

Lily felt her heart lodge in her throat, making it impossible to answer her aunt. She made a weak attempt, opening her mouth before closing it quickly, embarrassment creeping in as her eyes welled with tears. And she didn't waste another moment before turning and running back towards the fireplace.

There were tears streaming down her face as she fumbled with their Floo powder, and she gave a startled gasp and jumped in surprise when another pair of hands unexpectedly reached out and removed the jar from her own.

"Sorry," she mumbled, wiping at her eyes as Teddy placed the powder back on the mantle.

"You're all right," he said softly, resting his hands on her shoulders and pulling her close. Letting her tears fall hadn't even been a choice. They were coming whether she wanted them to or not, but at least she had someone to lean on.

"You gonna tell me what's going on?" Teddy asked. Lily sighed against his chest before pulling back, wiping at her eyes once again and glancing up at his concerned face.

"It's a long story," she admitted. "And I don't want to spoil your evening."

Teddy sighed, looking torn as he glanced back towards where his wife and her parents were waiting for him. It didn't really surprise Lily that he was actually considering blowing them off for her. He was a fixer and a helper, and she needed fixing and helping.

"Look, any other night, I'd be all ears," he told her apologetically. "But tonight…I kind of need to go back in there."

Lily was already nodding before he'd even finished. "It's fine, I get it," she assured him, doing her best to offer a reassuring smile. By the way Teddy was watching her, it didn't work.

"Look, how about I swing by later?" he asked. "There's actually something I'd kind of like to talk to you about too."

His words brought Lily's tears and misery to a halt. She looked at him quizzically. "Okay," she said. "If it's about Hugo, that's part of my whole… thing."

Teddy shook his head. "No, it's something different, but I've gotta get back in there. See you later?"

Lily nodded, her curiosity overriding her own worries as she Flooed home. It was enough to keep her from wallowing as she retreated back to her room and waited for her godbrother. By the time he showed up, it was just past ten o'clock and she'd actually managed to doze off at some point, so the sound of him knocking on her door had her jerking awake.

She blinked dazedly around her room that was lit only by the lamp beside her bed as she called for Teddy to come in. His grinning face appeared as the door opened and he held up a brown paper bag with two spoons. Lily couldn't help smiling back.

"I knew there was a reason you're my favorite brother."

Teddy chuckled as he closed the door behind him. "I bet you say that to all your brothers."

Lily rolled her eyes, knowing she couldn't deny it as Teddy tossed the bag at her. She pulled out the tub of ice cream as he plopped down next to her, kicking off his shoes as he joined her in sitting up against the headboard.

"You know me so well," she said, taking the lid off of the strawberry ice cream that would always be her go-to choice. Teddy chuckled.

"Well, seeing as you threw a colossal fit when they got the wrong kind on your fifth birthday, it would be pretty hard to forget."

Lily scowled and elbowed him before taking a spoon and digging in. But there was no way she could actually be mad at Teddy.

"Thanks," she said through a mouthful of ice cream as she handed him the tub. "I really needed this."

Teddy smiled. "I could sort of tell."

Lily let out a snort of laughter, leaning her head against his shoulder as she remembered the scene she'd made in his home. At least it wasn't as bad as other scenes she'd made recently.

"Did it go all right?" she asked, closing her eyes and enjoying the peace and the comfort that the presence of another person brought. "Your dinner?"

She could hear his smile in his response. "Yeah, it did."

Lily gave an absent minded nod. "Good. I've done enough ruining of things lately. Don't really feel like adding more to the list."

Teddy sighed, and Lily opened her eyes as he reached out and gave her knee a comforting squeeze. "You haven't ruined anything, bud."

Lily rolled her eyes, but couldn't tell him not to call her that. At least he'd shortened it from Lilybud. "Tell that to Hugo."

Teddy gave a contemplative hum, taking another bite of ice cream before passing it back to Lily. "I'm guessing that's at least one of the reasons you're not at Shell Cottage tonight?"

She sighed and nodded, poking at the ice cream with her spoon. "It just feels really shitty, you know? Knowing they're all together and I'm...well, not. I'm just ready for things to be back to normal."

Teddy nodded. "And how do you see that happening?"

"That," said Lily, pausing to take a big bite of ice cream before continuing, "is a very good question."

Teddy chuckled. "You know, I've had my fair share of falling outs myself. With family members too."

Lily had to think for a moment before a vivid memory from when she was much younger popped into her mind. "Are you talking about that massive fight you had with Dad before your seventh year?"

Teddy's eyes opened wide in surprise. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember that. You were only, what, seven? Anyway, yeah. That was probably the worst as far as brutal arguments go. Vic and I went through a time when we weren't talking too, but that came without a big blow up. Dad and I… that was a much different story."

Lily smiled as Teddy took the ice cream back. He'd always called her parents by their names, the only exception being when he was talking to her or James or Al about them. Then they were always "Mum and Dad". It was one of the things that made Teddy feel even more like a brother, and also why she and her brothers had all taken a while to realize that he technically wasn't one.

"What happened?" she asked, unable to remember what the argument was actually about.

"Well," Teddy said with a sigh. "To be honest, he wasn't too chuffed about me wanting to be an Auror."

Lily's eyebrows rose in shock. "Really?"

Teddy nodded. "Yep. And I was letting the fact that I was of age get to my head. I was very obstinate and said some cruel things. We fought at the beginning of the summer, and it wasn't until the end of it that we actually worked things out. I was being stubborn and not actually listening to him. He might have been a bit overprotective when it came to his reasons for not wanting me to be an Auror, but his heart was in the right place. Plus, he'd never had to deal with a teenager before. Al should really thank me, actually. I'm probably the only reason Dad didn't throw a fit when he said he wanted to do the same."

Lily chuckled. "I sort of always wondered about that. Then again, Al's been talking about being an Auror since he was five."

"True," said Teddy, placing the lid back on the tub of ice cream and banishing it to the ice box with his wand. "Anyway, Grandmum was the one who finally got through to me. I think I said something to her about never speaking to him again, and she asked me the same question she asked herself when she decided to reach out to Aunt Narcissa after the war. Which was more important - the relationship, or the issue? And of course I knew the relationship was what mattered more. Took quite the long conversation to work through everything, but knowing that I was doing what I needed to to mend one of the most important relationships in my life made it worth it."

By the time he was finished, Lily had tears in her eyes. She'd been fighting against this truth for weeks now. Letting go of all the drama and the problems and the fights and the attitudes and just fixing her friendship with Hugo was more important than all the rest of it. Hugo had apologized, but she'd held onto her pride. She knew it was her fault that things had carried on this long and knew what she had to do, but she'd fought it because it seemed like an impossibility. However, hearing Teddy put it into such simple terms made it seem just that - simple.

"You're right," she said, brushing away the single tear she'd let drop and taking a deep breath. "I know you're right and I've sort of known what I need to do for a while. I'm just still not sure if I know how."

"Well," said Teddy, sitting up, turning to face her, and criss-crossing his legs, "would it help to talk through it? Figure out what you should say?"

Lily sighed, but moved to mirror his position. "Fine, but I've got no clue how to even start."

"All right," he said with a nod. "I know some of what's gone on because, let's face it, this family can't keep out of each other's business, but I'm not even entirely sure why you two aren't talking. So walk me through it."

It was still hard to know where to even begin, but she could try. "It started with me dating Caleb Wood, I guess," she said with a sigh, her mind going back to that first moment they'd shared in Hogsmeade. "We kept it a secret, thinking it was best not to provoke the meddling tendencies of my family before we knew how serious it was. Of course, I sort of knew before we were even together that I didn't want it to be casual. I suppose you think I'm too young for something serious."

Teddy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure if that's the type of thing there's a hard and fast rule about. Pretty sure you've got a few family members that can tell you they were even younger when they knew they wanted forever with someone. And if the same was true for you, I'm guessing you weren't the one who wanted to keep it a secret?"

Lily blinked in surprise. "It was Caleb's idea, actually," she admitted. "But he was ready to tell everyone by the time Christmas rolled around, which was only a few weeks later. Erin found out on Christmas Eve, and then Rose found out a few weeks after that. I didn't tell Hugo until just before Easter."

She couldn't help pausing, remembering that conversation and realizing with a start that it was the last one they'd really had before everything fell apart. Guilt settled into her stomach at the further proof that Hugo had been right. She'd neglected their friendship, nearly casting it aside completely in favor of her budding romance with Caleb.

"How'd that go?" Teddy asked.

"Better than I'd expected, actually," said Lily. "I could tell he was surprised I'd kept it from him for so long, but he seemed happy for me and willing to help out when I asked if he could get Caleb to come on our trip to Ireland during Easter Break. And he didn't tell anyone either."

Teddy nodded. "Okay, so what changed? What happened to make things turn so sour?"

Lily shrugged her shoulders, avoiding her godbrother's penetrating gaze because she knew her honest answer didn't paint her in a very good light. "I honestly didn't really notice things going wrong. I was so caught up in my relationship with Caleb that I did exactly what Hugo accused me of doing."

There was a pause before Teddy prodded once again. "Which was?"

Lily took a deep breath, letting it out shakily as she finally admitted what she'd been denying for weeks. "I ditched him. After being my best friend my whole life, I had something that I thought mattered more than anything else and took for granted the fact that he'd be there without question."

She hadn't said it with anything other than remorse and guilt, any anger she'd felt towards him melting away. The bed shifted as her tears started to fall, and Teddy moved so he was leaning against the headboard once again. Lily was quick to join him, curling into his side as his arm came around her shoulder to hold her close as she let her tears fall.

"He was so angry," she continued as she cried. "I know now that he was hurt more than anything, but my pride and selfishness got in the way of seeing that. He did some stupid things, but not until after I'd pushed him even further away. If I'd just listened, this whole thing might never have gone this far."

Teddy rubbed her arm soothingly and kissed the top of her head as she continued to cry. "Sounds like you know exactly what you need to say to him."

Lily let out a sigh, nodding against him and wiping at her tears. "Doesn't make it easy."

He gave a hum in understanding, running his fingers soothingly through her hair. It succeeded in luling Lily into the calmest state she could remember being in in weeks. Things might not be fixed quite yet, but it was a comfort to know there was a way they could be.

She hoped so, at least. Either way, there was no use continuing to fret over it, so she firmly resolved not to.

"So, was dinner tonight a special occasion?" she asked, closing her eyes and growing drowsier by the second. "Or did Bill and Fleur just come over because Louis wanted them out of his hair?"

Teddy chuckled. "A bit of both, actually. We, uh… we shared some news with them too."

"Yeah?" Lily asked through a yawn, his words barely registering. "What's that?"

She was jostled around a bit, causing her to lift her head off Teddy's shoulder and squint up at him. He was grinning as he pulled what looked like a scrap of paper from his pocket and held it out to her. Lily had to blink a couple times as she took it, a moving picture coming into focus. A picture that was black and white and contained an image that could only possibly mean one thing.

A gasp escaped Lily as she sat up, staring at the picture in shock and wonderment. Her eyes snapped to Teddy as she tried to find words, an open mouthed smile growing on her still gobsmacked face as she looked at her beaming godbrother.

"Oh my god, Ted!" she nearly shrieked out. "Vic's pregnant?!"

Teddy was taking great enjoyment in her reaction as he chuckled and nodded. "She sure is."

Lily was both laughing and crying as she pulled Teddy into a gripping hug. "Holy shit," she said in disbelief. "I mean…" she continued, shaking her head as she pulled away to look at him in continued astonishment. "Was this planned, or…?"

"Not exactly," Teddy said with a shrug as he continued to smile. "We knew we wanted to wait till we were married but hadn't really talked about timing after that. And then she said she needed to restock her potion a few months ago and I found myself asking if she really wanted to. We were both a bit surprised when I said it, but she's done with her final term of school in December and she's always wanted to be a mum." He gave another shrug, still grinning brightly. "So, we decided to just see what happened."

"You knocked up my cousin's what happened," said Lily, grinning as she gave him an affectionate punch to the arm. "Bloody hell. Do Mum and Dad know?"

Teddy shook his head. "We only just told Bill and Fleur tonight. And seeing as Dom was with Vic when she found out, I thought it only right that my sister be the first in my family to know too."

Warmth and appreciation and an overwhelming urge to break down and cry filled Lily at his words. She managed to keep her tears somewhat in check as she shook her head in bewilderment. "Thank you," she said. "I know this isn't about me, but it means a lot."

Teddy reached out and gripped her hand, giving her a soft smile. "It's about family, bud. And just because I'm starting a new one doesn't mean you're not just as much a part of it as you were before."

Lily gripped his hand as a fresh wave of tears threatened to fall. "You might want to shut up unless you want me to keep crying."

Teddy laughed, pulling her close once again and giving her a brotherly squeeze. "And can you please tell the rest of the family soon?" she asked through her own laugh. "I'm going to go mad having to keep this a secret."

* * *

**A/N: I really enjoyed writing this one. Hope you enjoy reading it! I'm working on updating more frequently so we'll see if I can follow through with that and post weekly! Thanks for your patience and it's always great to hear from you in the form of a review!**


	9. The Heart of the Matter

The last few weeks of summer typically flew by, time feeling shorter due to a desire to make it stop. This year, however, Hugo felt like the days were dragging their feet.

It probably had to do with the fact that he spent every day caught between a gnawing feeling of responsibility to fix things with Lily, and a stubborn yet impatient determination to wait until she came to him.

The whole thing was giving him indigestion.

It didn't help that the weeks had been dull and mundane. Well, with the exception of the last few hours.

Usually, Hugo spent the last few days before his return to Hogwarts enjoying a final day with friends and family. Since the train left on a Sunday this year, that meant they could spend the entire Saturday enjoying the last bit of summer. Friday evening, however, was reserved for just family at the Burrow. Well, family and significant others. More people had someone that came with them than didn't these days. It was only, what, five of them that weren't with someone? And not too long ago, it had only been four.

He wasn't an idiot and he wasn't blind. Seeing Lily tonight, he saw not only the remorse in her eyes when she looked at him, but the overall resigned and somber way she carried herself. The summer had been hard on her, the dark circles under her eyes betraying the truth her sun kissed skin and freshly cut hair were trying to mask.

It ate at him to see her so obviously hurting, and since surrounded by their family and friends at the Burrow didn't seem like a good time to get into things, he'd stayed as far away from her as possible.

But all thoughts of Lily had fled from his mind in the panic over Erin and Scorpius. Their night had been shot to hell, and probably the following day as well. Hugo had stuck by his sister's side, silent but present in case she needed anything. He'd even gone with her and their dad to the hospital, his mind far away from his own problems for the first time in weeks. He didn't even realize how forgotten his troubles were until Lily showed up at the hospital.

Hugo barely had time to resent the fact that he couldn't talk to his best friend before she was sitting next to him, an open and vulnerable look on her face as he sat up straighter in his chair and watched her uncertainly.

"I highly doubt saying I'm sorry will do a lot of good," she began in a soft voice, "but I'm saying it anyway. Hugo, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being so cruel and unfeeling and selfish. I'm sorry for taking you for granted far more often than I'd care to admit. I'm sorry for being so stubborn and not admitting when I was wrong. I'm sorry for continuing to make things worse and worse because I made the issues more important than they needed to be. I'm sorry for a hell of a lot of things," she said with a sad smile. "I could probably go on all night."

For a moment, Hugo took her in. He knew she was finally being honest - with him and with herself. And it couldn't have come at a better time.

"I'm sorry too," he said, but Lily shook her head.

"No, you've already apologized. And I was an arse for not doing the same that night."

"I was an arse too, though," Hugo said with a shrug, surprising himself with how little he really cared about what she'd done the morning she'd come to see him, despite what he'd said to Rose earlier in the evening. "Yeah, I apologized and I meant it, but I also said some harsh things."

"Not as harsh as the things I said," Lily countered. "I was a bit horrible."

Hugo gave another shrug. "Yeah, well, I'm your best friend and it was a bit of a rough day for you all around. I shouldn't be surprised that you took your anger at Caleb out on me."

At his words, Lily's eyes went comically wide. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she sat there, unable to respond. Eventually, she let out a scoff and a disbelieving, "What?"

"Well," Hugo began slowly, "he'd just broken up with you. I assumed you were pretty furious with him for that. Right?"

Lily continued to stare at him in shock for a few moments, but then her eyes fell closed as she seemed to deflate in front of him, a hand going up to cover her still open mouth.

"Fucking hell," he heard her mumble, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she shook her head. They were watery when she opened them and met his gaze, her hand falling lifelessly to her lap. "I was mad at Caleb."

Hugo's brow rose in surprise as he sat forward, hands clasped and arms resting on his knees as he watched his cousin experience a revelation. "Yeah. I figured you knew that bit."

Lily shook her head and bit her lower lip as she looked down at her hands. "I was mad at Caleb," she repeated, soaking it in. "Actually, I think I might _still _be mad at him. I guess it was easier to be mad at you. I mean, I already was. Plus, you're obligated to love me no matter what."

Hugo gave her a soft smile. "True, I'm afraid."

She scowled at him, but there was a playful edge to it that Hugo had been missing. He found his smile growing. "Fuck, I've missed you," he said with an amused shake of his head. Lily returned his smile.

"Wanker," she said, nudging him with her elbow before saying, "I missed you too."

Hugo nudged her back, the affectionate gesture familiar and comforting. "So," he said, "this whole anger towards Caleb thing. Does that mean you're not planning on trying to patch things up with him anytime soon?"

With a sigh, Lily slouched back in her seat. Hugo sat back too, waiting as she sorted through her most likely very muddled thoughts and emotions on the topic, her heel bouncing restlessly against the tile floor.

"He gave up," she said, her voice tight with emotion. "Things got really hard, and he bailed. I know it's a bit more complicated than that, but I felt abandoned. How am I supposed to trust him not to do that again? Even if he does care about me the way I think he does."

Hugo nodded. "That's fair. He was pretty much your only ally there for a while. It was a bit of a shit move."

"Right?" said Lily indignantly, his support seeming to give a little more life to her. "I mean, he was all '_I wish things didn't have to be this way,' _but he still made a choice. And he chose to walk away from me and leave me with broken relationships left and right. We could've stayed together and still gotten through all this, right?"

She was looking at him for an answer, and Hugo let out a sigh. "I've got no bloody clue, Lily. And I totally get the fact that you're angry with him, but hasn't this whole thing taught us that things like that really aren't worth holding onto?"

Lily clicked her tongue and crossed her arms as Hugo smirked at her. She knew he was right.

"When did you become so wise?" she grumbled.

"I've _always_ been wise."

"Says the boy who once got his head stuck in a gnomehole."

"Oi! One of them ran off with my favorite toy dragon. I wasn't about to let him get away with that."

Lily laughed, the sound wonderful yet odd in the somber waiting room. She stifled it quickly and looked guiltily around at the people waiting for news. Their reason for being there came back to Hugo, and he felt a bit guilty as well.

"I can't believe we still haven't heard anything yet," said Lily, her eyes landing on where her brother was pacing in agitation. "Al's probably going to lose it if we don't get any news soon."

Hugo let out a sigh, shifting a bit in his chair so he was leaning on the arm that he shared with Lily. "Can't imagine what this is like for him. I mean, the girlfriend part is a bit out of my depth, but she's his best friend too. And so's Scorp. I don't want to even think about…"

He trailed off, unable to voice those thoughts. The feel of Lily's head dropping onto his shoulder as she linked her arm through his nearly had tears welling in his eyes. The intensity of his emotions surprised him, but he supposed the fear for Erin and Scorpius combined with the relief of having Lily back were pretty intense highs and lows for one night.

"I'm really glad you're my best friend again," Lily said softly against his arm. Hugo took a deep breath and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"I always was."

Lily squeezed his arm a little tighter, her light sniffling revealing that she was feeling the heightened emotion of it all too.

And even though things were still uncertain and they didn't know how the night would end, Hugo couldn't help smiling, thankful that he could finally be the one to cheer Lily up once again.

"Hey," he said softly, "can I come watch Quidditch practices this year? I'm way too excited to watch you make Louis and Caleb run drills to your heart's content."

He felt Lily chuckle against him. "Oh, believe me. I'm way too excited about that too."

They continued talking as the night wore on, their conversation flowing in a way that Hugo had missed more than he'd realized. When people began going back to see Erin and Scorpius and it became apparent they were both going to be okay, Lily left with her mum, though not before giving Hugo a slightly longer than necessary hug. Not that he didn't appreciate it. Having his best friend back was a wonderful feeling, and he rode that high until Rose emerged from the ward, obviously distressed and requesting that they head home.

Hugo had noted Scorpius storming out only a few minutes before Rose appeared. He'd been so surprised to see him that he hadn't even tried to grab his attention. Plus, Scorpius had been moving a bit too fast and with a fierce determination, that Hugo doubted he would've been successful if he'd tried.

"You going to tell me what's going on?" he asked his sister as she busied herself with heating up some leftovers for them. It was just past midnight, but Rose seemed too on edge to sleep, and when she'd suggested food, Hugo had readily agreed. They had been at the hospital for hours so he was obviously hungry, and it was also obvious that something was wrong.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, doing a terrible job of acting aloof as she set a plate of pizza in front of him. "A lot's going on."

"I meant with you," he clarified. "I saw Scorpius storm out. Did you two fight about something?"

"I don't really want to talk about this," she snapped as soon as he got the question out. Hugo watched his sister with a raised brow as she blew on her own slice of piping hot pizza before taking a bite. Hugo did the same, knowing his sister well enough to know that she'd talk when she was ready, if she wanted to talk at all.

But if doing his own opening up could help things along…

"I talked to Lily tonight," he said. Rose met his eyes with a raised brow.

"I noticed," she said as she finished chewing. "I'm guessing you made up?"

Hugo nodded, a slight smile on his face. "Yeah. About time, right?"

Rose nodded, continuing to eat her pizza with an unfocused and glazed expression, her mind obviously consumed with her own thoughts. Well, at least he'd done his part to try to get the conversation flowing. It was only a matter of time before his sister reciprocated.

But it thoroughly surprised Hugo when she finished her food without another word a moment later, merely wishing him a hasty goodnight in a shaky voice before retreating to her room.

Which meant things _really_ weren't good.

Why was it that as soon as one thing got sorted, another ugly thing popped up in its place?

* * *

This was awkward. Oh, this was so incredibly awkward. Why hadn't she expected it to be awkward?

At first, the train ride to Hogwarts had been no different from Lucy's last few, the added activity of the prefect meeting changing it up a bit from her first four years at school. Things were all going fine and normal and her sister was doing a wonderful job as Head Girl, while Hugo did a terrible one of avoiding Anastasia Bennett.

She almost felt sorry for him.

Things even seemed relatively normal as she settled back into the compartment where she'd stashed her trunk and Charlotte had saved her a seat. She'd been joined by Bobby, Louis, and Caleb - whose presence had annoyed Lucy as she sat across from him and next to Bobby. It wasn't that she really had a problem with Caleb, but he was the only person in the compartment who wasn't speaking to Lily, meaning her cousin had been left to find other traveling companions.

Lucy had only just settled in when Hugo showed up, took one look in the compartment, and then took off down the corridor.

"What's that all about?" Caleb asked with a raised brow.

"Don't know," said Lucy with a shrug, trying to lean out and watch her cousin as he continued to look into every compartment he came across. "He could be trying to lose Bennett. She was all over him after the meeting."

Louis chuckled from the other side of Bobby. "I told him he was in for it when we got back."

As the minutes passed and she waited for one cousin to show back up and worried about the well being of another, Lucy couldn't help a feeling of melancholy settle in as she thought about the coming school year.

While she'd be perfectly happy and content in her Hufflepuff dorm shared with Charlotte, Lily had never really gotten close to the girls in her year in Gryffindor. This was mostly due to the instant rivalry she'd struck up with Anastasia Bennett. It hadn't taken more than the first week for them to be firmly at odds with one another, their equally matched stubborn natures and tempers causing a bit of a blow up in one of their first potions lessons. Lucy still remembered it vividly.

Most of the other girls in the dorm tended to gravitate towards Anastasia, which Lucy had never understood. But it probably didn't help that Lily would almost constantly choose to sit with either Hugo or her and Charlotte over the girls in her dorm. In some ways, she'd created the distance herself, but that didn't mean Lucy felt any less sympathy for her. Until she could manage to fix things with Hugo and find a way to at least be in Caleb's presence, Lily was in for a very difficult and lonely year.

With a somber sigh, Lucy stood and made the excuse of running off to the bathroom. The longer she sat, the more guilty she felt about abandoning Lily, and there was no way she was planning on spending the entire trip to Hogwarts like that. With everything that had happened on Friday night, the plans for all of them to gather at Ron and Hermione's on Saturday had been canceled, so she had no idea how Lily was handling heading back to school. They'd been too busy playing with James and Violet's new puppy Friday night to talk about anything seriously. Lucy was intent on finding her cousin and making sure she was okay, but she'd only just closed the compartment door behind her when the sound of other people coming her way had her looking down the corridor, and she stopped in surprise at the sight of her cousins. Her cousins that she hadn't expected to be anywhere near each other, let alone carrying on a conversation.

" - just don't know if this is a good idea," she caught Lily saying. Hugo rolled his eyes.

"If you don't face this now, you'll only have to do it later."

Lily let out an annoyed groan, but stopped before responding when she caught sight of Lucy.

"Hi," said Lucy, looking curiously between Lily and Hugo as the former smiled and waved in greeting. "I was just coming to look for you, Lily."

"Oh, I was mostly hiding in the loo," she admitted with a grimace, which changed into a smile when she glanced at Hugo and nudged him. "This one managed to track me down and dragged me back here."

Lucy looked at Hugo, still confused by what she was seeing. "Right, so, you two are…?"

"Oh, yeah, we hashed it out the other night," said Hugo as if it were an afterthought before pulling open the compartment door. This action had Lily grabbing his arm to hold him back, shaking her head as she stared past him into the strangely silent compartment. Hugo turned to face her, a somewhat impatient expression on his face.

"Look, you don't have to talk to him," he said, softly enough that no one in the compartment would hear. "You don't even have to forgive him. Just do this for me, yeah? I'm done with having to choose, all right?"

His final words were said loud enough that everyone inside had to have heard him too. It only took a few seconds before Lily was nodding and letting out a resigned sigh. And then Hugo was leading her into the compartment, Lucy right on their heels.

And that was when the awkwardness had started.

Lucy had been under the impression that things would go back to normal once Hugo and Lily made up. But she'd forgotten about all of the other fractured relationships and the fact that they wouldn't heal just because another one had.

And based on the look on Caleb's face and the cold shoulder Lily gave him as she walked past, things were very far from going back to normal.

It was so incredibly awkward.

"Up for some chess?" Hugo asked Louis as he sat on the floor across from him. Lily sat in the empty seat behind Hugo and next to Charlotte, who was glancing between the two cousins anxiously.

"Sure," said Louis, offering Lily a smile as he joined Hugo on the floor of the compartment. "This is a nice change," he said as he gestured to the two of them.

"I'll say," said Charlotte with a chuckle. "I've been sitting here stressing over how I was going to juggle you two."

Lily chuckled. "Don't worry, you no longer have to pick up that particular skill."

Their conversation faded to the background as Bobby leaned closer to Lucy to whisper in her ear. "When was the last time they even saw each other?" he asked, nodding towards Charlotte and Lily.

"The three of us got together last week," Lucy whispered back. "Things were a bit tense since they'd both sort of been avoiding each other after Lily acted all superior, but they aired things out."

"Good," said Bobby, though Lucy couldn't help noting that he didn't pull away once their private conversation was over. His shoulder and thigh were pressed up against hers, the familiar scent of whatever heavenly soap he used surrounding her.

The weeks since she'd had a bit of an emotional breakdown in his house were filled with them spending time together. She'd seen him at least three times a week all summer and sometimes more often than that. Nothing had really changed in their relationship in a definitive sense, but she could feel it creeping closer, like the tide coming in and just barely lapping at her feet as she stood on the shore.

It was in the ways he looked at her and casually touched her like he was now. Those things had been in their relationship for almost a year now, but never to such an undeniable amount. Lucy could only wonder how long it would take for them to completely dive in.

Was he expecting her to say something first? Did he think his actions spoke his intentions plainly and he was just waiting for her to respond?

It was a bit terrifying to think about, but she supposed she could do that. It wouldn't take much, just about all the courage she possessed.

Maybe she could start small. Reciprocate a bit. That would be a start, right?

Lucy's thoughts of potentially leaning into Bobby or grabbing his hand or anything along that vein took a back seat as Caleb abruptly stood from his seat, silencing Charlotte's laughter as he roughly pulled open the compartment door. He stormed out and flung it shut behind him before any of them could say a word.

Hugo let out a sigh and rubbed at his eyes as Louis shook his head. Charlotte was staring at the seat next to her that Caleb had just vacated with pursed lips. And Lily was doing her best to look indifferent but failing miserably. Lucy thought you'd have to be blind not to realize she not only still cared about Caleb, but was holding onto some very negative feelings towards him as well.

"Shit," Hugo grumbled, his hand running through his hair as he gazed unseeing at the chess board in front of him.

"Probably best to let him be for now, yeah?" Louis asked, keeping his voice quiet even though it was impossible for the rest of them not to hear. Hugo shrugged in response.

"I don't see why he has a problem," said Lily, her arms crossed as she stared out the window with a clenched jaw. "He made a choice and he needs to deal with it."

Louis looked up at his cousin with an arched brow. "You really want to pretend it's that simple?"

Lily shrugged, her gaze still following the rolling hills as the train sped on. "It could be. I'm dealing with it, aren't I?"

"Well, that's a bit of a new development," said Bobby, his tone understanding rather than judgmental. "And maybe it's his turn to be a bit worked up about it."

"You mean he hasn't cared at all the last couple months?" Lily asked, looking doubtfully at each of them in turn.

"Of course he has," said Hugo with a roll of his eyes, his attention still focused on the chess board. "But I really don't think you have much room to comment on how he handles this. Especially because I doubt you're going to continue to be all calm and collected about it."

Lily gave a huff and returned to looking out the window. It was a testament to how thoroughly she and Hugo had made amends that his comment didn't stir up any more trouble. It also showed that Lily knew he was right. She might appear to be holding herself together, but Lucy knew joining them in the compartment and being in Caleb's presence hadn't been easy. And Lily would probably be facing much more difficult encounters with her ex boyfriend in the near future.

The momentary quiet that had fallen over the compartment was disrupted by the door opening once again.

"I've just seen a rather agitated Caleb Wood storming down the corridor," said Jill Boot as she made herself comfortable on the ground next to Louis. She had her mouth open to continue but froze when her eyes landed on Lily.

"Oh!" said Jill, taking stock of who else was in the compartment before turning back to Lily. "You friends with this lot again?"

Lily rolled her eyes but nodded.

"That explains it, I suppose," said Jill, moving a bit closer to Louis and scrutinizing the chess match. "Anyway, Molly went after him and I thought you'd like to know your boy is in good hands."

Louis cracked a small smile. "Thanks," he said as he moved his bishop. "That the only reason you came looking for me?"

Lucy stared in shock at Louis. It wasn't over the top, but there was definitely a flirtatious tone to his words. And seeing as her cousin tended to steer clear of encouraging the attention of girls, Lucy couldn't be sure she'd ever heard him do something like that before. Even around Jill.

"Well, all the rest of my dorm mates are a bit boring," said Jill, her attitude nonchalant in a very forced way even as she leaned in and rested her shoulder against the boy she sat beside. "And I figured you might need help not getting pummeled by Hugo again. What kind of strategy is this?"

Louis gave her an affronted look as Hugo took his bishop with a bemused expression. "Hey, I've fine-tuned this strategy all summer," he said indignantly. "So if you'd actually like to help, don't distract me."

For a moment, Lucy thought Jill was going to continue with their banter as she and Louis playfully stared each other down. Instead, she uttered an airy "Fine," and allowed the game to continue.

Well, they _had_ spent almost the entirety of Caleb's birthday in each other's company. Lucy shouldn't have been too surprised. Then again, her thoughts had mostly been occupied with everything going on with Lily and Hugo. And her ever evolving relationship with Bobby. And Molly's new relationship as well.

It was a lot to keep track of all at once.

The compartment fell into a comfortable and familiar rhythm. Lily had gotten out her worn down and familiar notebook that Lucy knew was filled with all sorts of sketches. Charlotte was spending the last bit of time she could on her Muggle mobile device, though based on the way she kept pausing to slap it against her thigh, the magic around them was already starting to affect it.

"You should get one of the ones Freddie's developing once he starts to sell them," said Bobby as he dug in his bag and pulled out a bag of toffees and offered some to Lucy. "Violet has one of the prototypes and won't shut up about it."

"That won't do me much good seeing as they probably still aren't allowed at school," Charlotte grumbled as she held the phone high above her head and squinted as she tapped away.

"What are you doing, anyway?" Lucy asked as she chewed on a toffee.

"I'm just trying to send one last message to my sisters," she said with a sigh. It wasn't exactly common knowledge that Charlotte's relationship with her sisters was strained, so Lucy checked to make sure no one was paying them too much attention before asking Charlotte if things had gotten any better over the summer.

"The only thing we really had in common to talk about all summer was boys," Charlotte said in annoyance. She finally gave up on contacting her sisters and tossed the phone aside with a heavy sigh. "They're starting to look at Muggle Universities, which is not something I'm sure I want to do."

"Didn't your brother do that?" asked Bobby. Charlotte nodded before sighing once again and leaning her head back against the wall with her eyes closed.

"My parents aren't pressuring me to," she said, "but Catherine kept talking about it as if I would obviously be going and Caroline didn't do a good job of hiding the fact that even if I do go, she hopes I don't go wherever she decides to attend."

Lucy's eyes widened. "What? Why would she feel that way?"

Charlotte gave a lazy shrug. "She's always had a harder time than Cat with the whole magic thing. Not that Cat's a big fan of it either, but she's a bit more delicate about it and doesn't automatically change the subject every time it's brought up like Car does. I guess it's all just further proof that being born on the same day isn't enough to make us the best of friends."

It always pained Lucy to hear Charlotte talk so matter-of-factly about the distance between her and her sisters. She couldn't imagine not having a friendship with Molly, and they weren't even twins let alone triplets. Being the odd one out had to be miserable.

"Would you like us to clear out? Give you two a bit of privacy?" Hugo asked with an annoyed tone, pulling everyone's attention back to the chess match. Louis and Jill - whom he was watching expectantly - looked at him in innocent confusion.

"What are you on about?" asked Louis. Hugo looked between them for a few moments before smirking, giving away that he was more amused than annoyed and was going to thoroughly enjoy teasing his cousin.

"What was the move you just made?" he said with a gesture towards the chess board. Louis looked down at it, his brow creased as his eyes darted around the board.

"Er…" he said after an awkward moment of silent uncertainty. "It was my knight, wasn't it?"

"No," said Hugo, his tone taking on the quality one would use when teaching basic concepts to a child. He picked up the black knight and held it in front of Louis' face. "You moved _my _knight. And I'm always black, so that's a pretty silly mistake to make."

Louis' ears turned pink as Hugo put the piece back on the board. "Oh," he said. "Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," Hugo said with a shrug, "but if you and Boot need a moment to snog the pants off each other so you can focus, just say the word. I could cut the sexual tension in here with a knife."

Lily snorted and buried her face in her notebook as her shoulders shook with laughter. Charlotte was gaping at Hugo, but she seemed more impressed than appalled. Jill hardly seemed fazed at all, though her cheeks were a bit pink and she sat up a little straighter, putting a smidge of distance between herself and Louis, who was scowling in warning at a smirking Hugo.

"Are you sure that's not coming from Bobby and Lucy?" Jill asked innocently. Lucy felt her face heat up instantly and did everything she could to shrink further back into her seat.

"Hey, leave us out of this," Bobby said defensively, his cheeks a bit pink as well. Lucy looked away from him as soon as his eyes met hers, but she let out the breath she'd been holding when he simply held out the bag of toffee once again to offer her another one. She took one and mumbled a thanks before glancing sheepishly up at his twinkling eyes and soft smile.

"Besides, what do you know about it?" Louis asked Hugo gruffly, his eyes focusing on the chess board once again and pulling Lucy out of her Bobby-induced haze. "I'm pretty sure there was nothing remotely sexual about the way you snogged Bennett."

"Oh, ew, don't ever mention that again," said Lily, a look of pure disgust on her face. Hugo, however, didn't seem too bothered by the comment.

"Don't knock it till you've, you know, _actually_ tried it."

An assortment of laughter and oohs sounded at Hugo's dig, and Charlotte even gave him a slow clap in appreciation. Louis merely rolled his eyes.

"Oh, shut the hell up," Louis grumbled. "And don't even bother denying that you wish you'd never done it."

Hugo laughed as Louis went ahead and took his actual turn. "Fine," he said, "as long as you admit that you wish we'd all clear out so you could snog Boot."

It was a battle of wills now. Hugo waited expectantly as Louis stared him down with a clenched jaw.

"Oh, honestly, Hugo," Jill cut in with a roll of her eyes. She leaned closer to Hugo and glared at him before saying in a challenging tone, "When the time comes, I'll have no problem snogging the living daylights out of your cousin right before your very eyes."

Lucy watched in surprised delight as Hugo stared at Jill with wide eyes. She smirked triumphantly, turned to a gobsmacked Louis, and kissed him softly and quickly on the cheek before rising to her feet.

"If you'll excuse me," she said, dusting off her jeans and making her way out of the compartment, "I'm going to check in with Molly."

With that, she left the compartment, though not before Lucy could see that her cheeks had a rosy hue to them as she put in a lot of effort to contain a grin.

A thud and an oof sounded from the floor of the compartment as soon as the door closed, and Lucy turned to see Hugo rubbing at his upper arm from where Louis had presumably just punched him.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked in outrage.

"Can't you mind your own fucking business?" asked Louis, his voice a bit shrill.

"Oh, relax," Hugo said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, I think I did a bit more helping than hurting."

"Well you had no way of knowing that when you started running your mouth," Louis grumbled.

As soon as the smirk flashed across Hugo's face, Lucy saw it coming. But years of experience had shown her there was no point and no way to try and stop it.

"Speaking of mouths-"

The words had barely slipped past Hugo's lips before Louis was slugging him in the stomach, which was quickly followed up with a headlock as the chess pieces went flying. Lily let out a squeal as they tumbled onto the floor and she managed to pull her feet out of the way just in time. Charlotte made a beeline for the door and got out just in time as Lucy folded her legs up into her seat as well. She was too absorbed in watching her cousins continue to wrestle like children that she didn't realize what Bobby was doing until something rested against her knee. Her eyes grew wide as she looked down to see Bobby's head there, his legs stretched out along the seat as he grinned up at her.

"Looks like it's shaping up to be another boring year, don't you think?"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, I haven't abandoned this one! I didn't realize till today how long it had been since I'd updated it. Hope you enjoy this chapter! So happy to have most of them back together again. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the reviews! I have certain things pretty set in my mind as far as where this story goes, but I have many things that are still up in the air and would love to know what you might like to see! Feel free to make requests/offer suggestions!**


	10. this is me trying

**A/N: Apologies for my extreme tardiness! Travel and other factors has me a bit behind, but better late than never! I know it's not Leap of Faith for those anxiously waiting for that, but I've been neglecting these kids a bit too long. Enjoy!**

* * *

Lily could honestly say that she was looking forward to the new school year. It was always fun to see giddy and nervous first years lining up to be sorted and to cheer for the ones who wound up in her own house. Their excitement was contagious. How had it been six years since she'd tried on the hat and it had almost immediately shouted _Gryffindor!_

Plus, it was hard not to be happy when she had her best friend back. Especially since she hadn't been expecting to sit with him during the start of term feast and would've had to brave her dorm mates. They were still sitting nearby, but wouldn't be too hard to ignore. It was tradition to sit with your house during the start of term feast, so they would've been her only option.

The alternative was much more pleasant. Even if it meant the only thing separating Lily from her ex boyfriend were two of her cousins.

"Lily, we heard you made Captain!" said Cole Sawyer, sitting across the table from Hugo as the sorting concluded and they began loading their plates with food. Cole was a sixth year student with dark skin, closely cropped hair, and a somewhat stocky build. He was also a Beater on the team and the only remaining player beside herself, Caleb, and Louis.

"Yep," said Lily, beaming proudly.

"When are tryouts?" asked Linus Cattermole, who was sitting on the other side of Cole and across from Louis. He was built almost the exact opposite of Cole, reedy and fair haired and almost always hunched over as if to hide how gangly he was. He was in Lily's year as well.

"We have to coordinate through the House Heads, but hopefully sometime next week."

"What positions are you looking for?" asked Dara Finley. She was sitting across from Lily and was the only girl in her year that she could actually stomach for more than a few minutes at a time.

"One Beater and two Chasers," she said. "Unless, of course, I manage to find two Beaters that work better together than they do with Cole."

Cole's head popped up, a forkful of mashed potatoes halfway to his gaping mouth.

"Hey!" he said indignantly. "You can't just give away my spot."

Lily smirked and tapped the badge on her robes. "I can do whatever I please."

Linus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but there's no _way_ you're kicking your cousin and your boyfriend off the team."

His words caused Lily to freeze up, realizing for the first time that word had not spread during the summer, and that the Hogwarts rumor mill hadn't yet kicked into gear. Thankfully, she was able to recover from the shock quickly even as she felt Bobby and Hugo tense up on either side of her.

"I plan to be a fair and unbiased captain, Cattermole," she said with a forced smile. Linus looked unconvinced, but it was the unpleasant voice of Anastasia Bennett that spoke up next.

And Lily had done _such_ a good job of ignoring her up to that point.

"Oh, _please_," she said, and Lily had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes as Anastasia dramatically flipped her silky brown hair, even hitting Dara in the face with the ends of it. "_Everyone _knows that all you Weasleys and Potters care about is each other and whoever you happen to be dating. And sometimes not even then."

She shot a pointed glare in Hugo's direction, but he ignored her and continued eating his meal with more gusto.

"Leave it alone, Bennett," said Bobby with a warning tone. Anastasia scoffed and rolled her eyes again.

"Come on, Bobby," she drawled. "You've got Lucy wrapped so tightly around your finger that you've got absolutely _no _room to talk."

Bobby's cheeks turned a bit pink, but Lily was more intrigued by the way Dara seemed almost disappointed by Anastasia's observation.

"Shut _up, _Anastasia," said Hugo, finally acknowledging the girl he'd spent an evening snogging at the end of last term. Lily had to choke back a laugh when Anastasia immediately perked up at being addressed by him. Did she seriously think that insulting his family was the way to his heart?

"Not that any of this is _any _of your concern, seeing as you can't even manage to get a broom off the ground," Lily said in a bored tone, "but I plan on forming the best team possible, even if it means replacing someone who already has a spot."

This earned her a glare from a pink cheeked Anastasia.

"Except Wood," said Cole, who waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Caleb. Lily was extremely grateful that she couldn't see his face. "He probably can't do a thing wrong in your eyes, eh?"

Her tactic had been to ignore it and just wait until people figured it out themselves. Not because she wanted to protect his feelings or felt embarrassed by it, but because it wasn't anyone's business. But she didn't feel like she could let that one go. Not when her integrity was being called into question.

"I disagree, actually," she said flatly, and a notable silence fell over their section of the table as Lily focused on cutting her chicken.

"Ooh, lovers spat?" asked Linus teasingly, immediately receiving death glares from all four boys on the bench across from him.

"No, actually," said Lily, as calm as anything. "You'd have to actually be lovers to be in a lovers spat."

Whatever silence had been present before now seemed twice as obvious. No one was eating and they were all glancing between Caleb and Lily with wide eyes. She was the first to continue eating her meal, and the others all slowly began to follow.

"You two broke up?" she heard Cole whisper as he leaned forward to talk to Caleb. Lily didn't catch his response, so he probably either didn't give one or it was nonverbal.

"Shit, I did not see that coming," said Linus. "Then again, you all were in a bit of shambles at the end of last year now I think about it."

Lily took a deep breath and focused on her meal. Was there anyone more tactless than Linus Cattermole? She was being strongly reminded why she rarely hung out with the other boys in Bobby and Hugo's dorm and did her best to tune them out.

"You okay?" Dara asked softly, and Lily looked up to see her watching her with genuine concern, her light blonde hair nearly dragging in her food as she leaned towards Lily in an effort not to be overhead. Lily offered her a soft smile.

"I'm fine. Thanks, though."

Dara gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, if you ever need anything…"

Lily nodded, truly feeling thankful for her dorm mate and grateful that she wasn't letting Anastasia's opinions sway her. Dara tended to have a mind of her own more than the other two girls in their dorm - Sophie and Amelia - did. Sure enough, as soon as Dara went back to her meal, Anastasia leaned in and started whispering to her fiercely, no doubt asking what she was thinking in being so friendly with Lily.

"You are okay, right?" asked Bobby from beside her. Lily nodded.

"Right now I am," she assured him. "Can't promise that I'll always be."

She glanced at him and shrugged, knowing there was no point in denying it, and Bobby gave her an understanding smile.

"What about you, Hugo?" Linus piped up again. "You plan on trying out?"

Hugo shook his head and swallowed a bite of food before responding. "I'm doing extra creature work with Hagrid for N.E.W.T.s, so I don't really have the time."

"Really?" asked Lily in pleasant surprise. "I didn't know you were doing that."

Hugo nodded. "He's got a new litter of Crups that were crossbred from a wolf, so I'm going to help him care for and study them. There's not a lot of documentation on that particular mix so it could be useful work outside of just earning a grade."

Lily grinned, excited for her cousin to have this opportunity. Hugo had always loved Care of Magical Creatures, but had been particularly fond of nonmagical animals growing up. This would be right up his alley.

"Isn't that _dangerous_?" asked Anastasia. Lily rolled her eyes. The girl had her elbow resting on the table and was cupping her chin in her hand while she watched Hugo with a gaze that was nauseatingly seductive. She seemed to have gotten over him snubbing her all summer pretty quickly.

"If they were raised in the wild, it might be," he said, his brow furrowed as if he couldn't figure out what she was trying to do. "And it won't be till they're older that we'd have to worry about that. They're just pups right now."

"Ooh, puppies?" Anastasia asked with an obnoxiously high voice. "I'd _love _to see them, only I'm not taking Care of Magical Creatures anymore."

Her lower lip popped out in a pout, and Lily just let herself chortle silently at Hugo's wide eyed look of panic.

"Er...shame."

His words didn't deter her. "Good thing _you'll _have such easy access to them. You'll take me to see them some evening, right?"

She was now fluttering her eyelashes and biting her lip. Dara looked embarrassed on her friend's behalf and shared an exasperated look with Lily as Hugo cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Uh...sorry. Probably not a good idea. Wouldn't want to abuse my privileges."

Anastasia pouted again and seemed on the verge of trying to guilt him into giving in, and Lily was not about to let that happen.

"Can you show them to me when we go visit Hagrid next weekend?" she asked, turning to her cousin with an innocent expression. She grinned in triumph when Hugo didn't even give a second thought to his response.

"Yeah, definitely. He'll probably even want to show you himself."

Anastasia let out a high pitched gasp of outrage, her face turning red as she stared at Hugo, who seemed to realize what he'd done a moment too late. Lily almost felt guilty as he glared at her.

Thankfully, Anastasia seemed to have had enough and turned away from them with a huff to loudly complain to Sophie and Amelia on her other side.

The rest of the meal continued on peacefully, Lily enjoying catching up with Dara - Hugo and Bobby joining in their conversation. It wasn't until they were nearly done with the pudding portion of the meal that the temporary line drawn between house tables was finally crossed.

"I've got to get to the library before curfew," said Bobby, standing and stretching as he casually glanced towards the Hufflepuff table. "I need to sign up for shifts for this term and I'd rather not wait till all the good slots are taken."

"Want some company?" Dara asked, looking a little more eager than someone who was only asking to be polite.

"No, that's okay," he said with a friendly smile and a dismissive wave. "Lucy mentioned something about a book we were supposed to get in over the summer that she wants to read so I thought I'd see if she wanted to join me."

He gave a general friendly wave of goodbye and told Hugo he'd see him back in the dorm before making his way towards where an expectant Lucy was smiling as he approached.

The sigh that escaped Dara was not lost on Lily.

"He got _fit _over the summer," Anastasia whispered loudly to her friend. Dara glumly rested her chin in her hand and nodded, her eyes flashing back and forth between her sticky toffee pudding and where Bobby and Lucy were now making their way out of the Great Hall amongst the other first few students to begin leaving the feast.

Objectively, Lily could see what Anastasia and Dara saw in Bobby. He was on the shorter side, especially compared to the tall males in her family, but still stood about five foot ten. His sandy hair had a soft look to it and fell effortly across his forehead, cut in an attractive and stylish way. And just like Hugo, he'd started filling out a bit, even though he wasn't - strictly speaking - muscular. Not to mention he had kindness in him that radiated from his eyes and his smile, which were both rather lovely as well. All around, it was easy to see what her dorm mates saw, and Lily felt a nervous swooping in her stomach to realize her sweet and slightly timid cousin was about to face a bit of competition if the reaction of her dorm mates was anything to go by.

This was driven home even more when they finally made it back to their dorms. Lily was ready for bed and taking a moment to pin some pictures from the summer up around her bed, adding to the collection she'd been building since her first year. Some were photos with friends and family and others were drawings she'd done. She was in the middle of hanging a picture from a day she'd spent out shopping in Muggle London with James and Violet - who had taken her out to celebrate her captaincy - when Dara called her name.

She was sitting on her own bed that was next to Lily's, twisting her long blonde hair into a braid and looking contemplative as Lily turned to face her. The other three girls could be heard giggling in the bathroom and it seemed like Dara was taking advantage of their moment alone.

"Are...are Bobby and Lucy actually dating?" she asked, her eyes fixed on their task as her cheeks turned slightly pink. Lily wasn't sure how to answer. She wanted to be honest, but she also didn't feel like it would be fair to Dara to say anything that could give her false hope.

"Practically," she settled on saying, remembering how closely the two had been sitting in the compartment. "I wouldn't be surprised if he snogged her tonight, actually. They've been building up to it all summer."

"Oh," said Dara, deflating a bit in disappointment. "Good to know."

Lily gave her an apologetic smile, but Dara didn't even glance at her before crawling under her covers and pulling her curtains shut. She could only hope that whatever crush Dara definitely had on Bobby wouldn't last. To be quite honest, Lily was really hoping that the school year would be relatively free of teenage angst and relationship drama. It was probably too much to hope for but still, she could hope.

Besides, she wasn't too proud to admit to herself that part of her reasoning for wishing this was because she didn't want to be reminded of what she no longer had. And more than that, she _really _didn't want to be put in a situation like the one Dara now found herself in - watching the boy you like carrying on with another girl.

The fact that she was probably still in love with Caleb Wood? That would only make watching him move on with someone else infinitely more painful. She could only hope that he'd be too busy with Quidditch and studying for his N.E.W.T.s to have time for anything else.

_Quidditch. _As excited as she was to be captain and thrilled to take on the challenge of leading her house team, she couldn't help partially dreading the try outs and training to come. The last time she'd had anything close to a conversation with Caleb was when they'd yelled at each other during what was supposed to be a friendly game of Quidditch in her backyard. And with how he handled being in the same compartment with her early, they were in for a rocky start to the season. Especially if he couldn't handle being around her.

As Lily crawled into bed and closed her curtains, it was hard not to let a feeling of bitterness creep in. He'd broken up with her, yet he was stomping around and ignoring her and acting like it was too much to ask of him to be in her presence. Well, she most certainly wasn't going to give any indication that she had a problem with being around him. She could get over her anger and her annoyingly persistent feelings of longing. She could be the bigger person. She could be completely fine. She could resolve to be indifferent.

She could do that. Right?

"It's always so peaceful here the first night back," said Lucy, her fingers trailing along the spines of books in the Transfiguration section of the library.

"It's always been my favorite time to come here, actually," Bobby admitted. "Shame that it doesn't have moments like this more often."

Lucy gave him a soft smile before returning her gaze to the books. He leaned his shoulder against the shelf, his hands in his pockets as he watched her taking in the familiar books and searching out the new ones.

"Yes!" she eventually exclaimed in excitement, pulling down a book with a teal cover and gold lettering that held a shine to it. "This is the one I was telling you about."

Bobby walked closer as she started looking through the book, turning the pages in almost a reverent way as she grinned in excitement. It was always so infectious, her smile. The way it made her eyes go all squinty and crinkled her nose, like she didn't care if her smile was anything other than an expression of the true joy she felt in any given moment. It was never disingenuous or forced or in any way manipulative. It was just pure, vulnerable emotion. And Bobby knew how rare that was.

"It has this whole section on Transfiguration at the molecular level," she said enthusiastically as Bobby came up behind her and looked over her shoulder. "I know that's how Transfiguration works overall, but this talks about it in a more precise and selective way. Like changing a few cells versus an entire object or being."

Bobby's brow furrowed in thought as he looked at the intricate diagram she'd paused on. "So, like...partial Transfiguration?"

Lucy shook her head and turned another page. "No, more like…" She paused in thought before closing the book, holding it against her chest and turning to face him. Her gaze was distant and her expression pinched as she leaned back against the shelf. "So, in human Transfiguration, we change everything so that we are now something we weren't. Even if we partially transfigure ourselves, it changes our outward appearance. But what if we could take just a single cell or a handful of them? What if we knew how to identify a cell that contained Dragon Pox or a blood malady or lycanthropy and transfigure it into a healthy one?"

She lowered her gaze to the book and held it out in front of her again. "There's a new team at St. Mungos that's doing more research on Muggle sciences that focus on the molecular level, and the author of this book is part of the team. I just think it could be so fascinating, you know?"

Bobby nodded, impressed. "Sounds groundbreaking, actually."

Lucy looked up at him, and he was surprised to find her expression hopeful. "You think so?"

"Yeah," Bobby said with a shrug. "Not to mention bloody difficult. I'm guessing it would take all kinds of brains and N.E.W.T.s to be a part of something like that."

A nervous tension seemed to fall on Lucy, but she kept her eyes on his. "Five, actually."

Bobby's eyes widened in surprise, realizing there was probably a pretty good reason she knew that. "Is this what you want to do when you leave school?"

Lucy looked away, holding the book close to her chest again and nervously chewing her lower lip. "I'd like to," she said softly. "I feel like it could be really important and that I'd at least enjoy it. Can't say I'd be good at it, though."

Bobby furrowed his brow. "You kidding? With how brilliant you are at Transfiguration? They'd be lucky to have you."

Her expression was still timid as she looked up at him, a blotchy redness to her cheeks. It wasn't like her to be embarrassed or insecure.

"I mean it," he said, taking a small step closer so she had to tip her head back a bit more to be able to meet his gaze. They used to be the same height, and Bobby wasn't really sure when that had changed. "And you've got the dedication and discipline to do it too."

Her cheeks bloomed brighter and her breathing grew more labored. And Bobby had a feeling that this reaction had less to do with his words and more about the fact that _he _was the one saying them. And that they were standing rather close in a very empty library.

"Thank you," she said softly, a nervous smile flashing across her face. But she didn't look away, her eyes flickering from his eyes to his lips but never leaving his face.

Wait, was this the moment? Was he supposed to take this rather rare opportunity of being alone with her and actually make a solid move past friendship? He'd thought about it quite a few times, but was he ready for that?

He really liked Lucy. He had for a while. But with everything that had happened over the past few months with Lily and Caleb…

Things were _just_ starting to work their way back to normal. Rocking the boat was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Come on," he said, stepping back and jerking his head towards the entrance with what he hoped was a friendly smile. "Won't be long before curfew."

It was hard to miss the disappointment in her eyes, even as she nodded and made to follow him. They paused at the front desk so he could check out the book for her before heading out of the library. The corridors were mostly empty save for a few stragglers, and Bobby and Lucy walked in silence all the way to the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. When they reached the basement, she rested her hand on one of the barrels and turned to face him, her book still securely clutched to her chest with her other arm.

He'd never felt uncomfortable around Lucy, but there was a tension in the air no doubt brought on by the opportunity he hadn't taken in the library. Especially since he had a feeling she'd wanted him to take it.

"Want to do breakfast together?" he asked hopefully, and was thankful to see Lucy give him a soft smile as she nodded. He bid her a friendly goodnight with a promise to find her and Charlotte at the Hufflepuff table in the morning before turning to walk back the way he'd come. By the time he glanced back over his shoulder, she'd disappeared into her common room.

Bobby's thoughts stewed his whole way back to Gryffindor Tower, barely coherent as memories of Lucy and their summer and the last few years tumbled around his mind. It had been such a slow trek to where they were now, that Bobby hardly felt like he'd made any conscious choices along the way. He'd gone with his instincts and maybe a bit of what he believed Lucy and others expected him to do. By the time he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, an unsettled feeling had developed in his stomach.

"Hey, fancy a game?" called Hugo as Bobby entered the room. He was sitting with Cole Sawyer and Louis at a table in the corner of the room, a deck of Exploding Snaps in his hands.

"How was the library?" asked Louis as Bobby sat, a slight smirk on his face while Hugo began to deal.

"Fine," said Bobby, all too familiar with the pointed looks and questions he got from Lucy's cousins on a regular basis. "I was able to get my same slot on the schedule as last year."

"Yeah, you were never clear on when exactly that was," said Hugo as he made his first move.

"That's because I didn't want you hassling me while I was trying to do my job."

Hugo rolled his eyes as the game continued. "Where's the fun in that?"

They lapsed into silence as the game sped up and concentration grew, only ending when Louis won the round.

"Not sure I've ever beaten you before," Louis said to Bobby as Cole gathered up the cards to begin again. "You're normally more on your game than this."

Bobby shrugged, watching Cole place the cards on the table. "Just tired," he said, knowing he was no such thing.

"This seems more like distracted than tired," said Hugo as Louis started the game. Bobby was saved from responding as they focused on the game, this time ending in a victory for Hugo.

"Spill," said Hugo, watching Bobby expectantly as Louis shuffled the cards. Bobby hesitated, hoping they could get the next game underway before he had to answer, but Louis simply held the deck in his hands and waited patiently for Bobby to speak up. He finally gave a resigned sigh and slouched back in his seat.

"I'm just a bit confused, I suppose," he said, gaze focused on the table in front of him rather than the far too interested gazes of his three friends. "I honestly don't know if I actually like Lucy, or if I just think I do because people have been telling me I do."

There was a beat of silence before Cole said, "Of course you like Lucy. Everyone says so."

Bobby gave him a pointed look. "Exactly. But when have I ever told anyone that? Have I ever said it to either of you?"

He glanced between Hugo and Louis, who both looked a bit perplexed as they thought over his question.

"I'm not sure you have, actually," said Louis. Hugo gave a reluctant nod in agreement.

"But you never contradicted us," he said. "I'm pretty sure we've teased you about this since third year."

"Yeah," chimed in Cole. "I'm pretty sure I remember the first time, actually. It was after our first trip to Hogsmeade."

It all came back to Bobby very quickly. The day of their first trip to the wizarding village had started out with him spending time with Hugo, Cole, and the other boys in their dorm. They'd spent time and a fair bit of gold in Honeydukes before going on to Weasley Wizard Wheezes, which is where he'd bumped into Lucy.

She'd managed to get her scarf caught in what turned out to be a box that would only open for the owner. By the time Bobby had found her, she'd been struggling long enough that she was growing so frustrated she had tears in her eyes. He'd tried to help her at first, but then quickly ran off to find a member of the staff when he'd realized he couldn't fix it any more than Lucy could. By the time she was free, she'd still been a bit upset by the whole ordeal and by her nearly ruined scarf since the boxes apparently had teeth. Without even stopping to think about his friends that he was abandoning, Bobby had taken her to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer and cheering up, which was where his friends had eventually found them.

The teasing afterward had been merciless.

"Look, there was a reason you ditched us for her that day, right?" Hugo said reassuringly. "And does it really matter _why_ you developed feelings for her?"

Bobby sighed and shrugged. "Maybe not, but I guess everything that's been going on is just messing with my head a bit. Making me more cautious and questioning things. She's one of my best friends, you know? What if something happens and we end up like Lily and Caleb and can't even look at each other?"

"Well, for starters, you two are already better friends than they were," said Louis, beginning to set the game up once again. "And it's possible that other people had a hand in getting you to where you are now, but that doesn't mean you have to let them continue to have a say. I'm pretty sure that has a lot to do with why things are the way they are with all that other stuff."

Bobby nodded, taking a moment to concentrate on the game enough to finally win one. It was as he was stacking the cards up to deal the next round that he really took note of Caleb's absence.

"Where is Wood, anyway?"

Louis nodded towards the boys dorms. "He left dinner not long after you did and wouldn't come down when the rest of us got back. He was supposedly writing a letter, but…"

He didn't need to finish his sentence. They all knew he was hiding from Lily.

"So…" Cole began awkwardly. "Lily's single?"

"Don't even think about it, mate," said Hugo, his tone resigned but holding a clear warning. Bobby had a feeling it was coming more from a place of wishing to avoid unnecessary drama than any misplaced duty to protect Lily from would-be suitors.

Bobby couldn't help agreeing, further cementing him in his conviction that he'd made the right call in the library. Yes, he fancied Lucy, no matter how that had come to be. But drama and romance and everything that went along with it all sounded too bloody exhausting to truly consider. Now was not the time to make things any more complicated than they already were.

They were only sixteen. Love could most certainly do them all a favor and wait.


End file.
